Friday, September 14, 2012

Applejacket, and Some Others~

Yes, nearly a week after posting her on my deviantART, I'm finally getting my Applejack Appreciation Day piece of my favorite darling cowpony posted here to my blog... I'm not sure why it's taken me so long to do but I suppose I hadn't wanted to cut off active conversations that had been in progress on the previous thread before now. Anyway, you've all already seen her of course and so I imagine she isn't too terribly exciting to look at, but I wanted to post her anyway because of course I absolutely love and adore Applejack, and more than most any other pony I like to think she deserves to be well-represented here on my blog. <3

I did promise some "others" as well though none are much to look at or speak of, but some have been sitting around in my files unseen for a while now and I figured I may as well share to make for a more engaging update. Feel free to check them out after the break if you like!

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First off are a couple of little sketches which I may or may not ever finish, obviously inspired by the above picture because I thought it was such a cute idea, featuring Rarity (of course) as well as the elusive Twilight Sparkle! If I do ever decide to color them I imagine I'll have to do the rest of the Mane Six as well, but that's probably getting quite ahead of myself so I won't promise anything at this point!

(Bad quality scans, my apologies~)

Next up is a picture which really does deserve to be called a doodle in every sense of the word, something that I aimlessly sketched and decided to color several weeks ago in an attempt to experiment and play with color a little bit. It's not much at all, but I suppose Rainbow Dash is rather sorely underrepresented here on my blog so I'm posting her anyway (and yes, those colors are decidedly garish)... enjoy, perhaps~

And lastly, have something that I never even intended to draw, which I made in around fifteen minutes all told (as a distraction when I was getting frustrated with another project), and which was an accident on top of that. I was practicing drawing Rarity's head from a rear three-quarter view, something I often have trouble with, but then Applejack's face joined in invading her personal space and I was reminded of one of those cliche "oops-someone-has-tripped-and/or-fallen-onto-the-other-person-so-now-we-shall-both-just-stare-and-blush-furiously-for-a-few-moments so I just... went with it I suppose. ^_^; I almost thought better of posting it too because it's even more of a genuine doodle than Rainbow Dash, but of course some of my fandom-friends are fellow Rarijack fans, and I thought they might enjoy seeing it despite the hastily-made nature (overly-cute style too, for whatever reason).

And... that is all for now. I'm not yet sure if I'll end up posting any of the exclusive images above on my deviantART or not because none of them are of the greatest quality, obviously, but perhaps I'll decide to finish the sketches as I said and maybe even polish up the Rarijack, I can't say. In the meantime, perhaps some of you might enjoy the very rough samplings just as they are, I don't know!

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comments:

Blush blush, so much blush. I just happened to be in the right place at the right time for this one, huzzah!

Twilight looks adorable by the way. More cute Rarijack is also appreciated (it feels like ages since you've done any, it's strange). Meanwhile, Rainbow Dash seems a bit upset. Possibly because she has been referred to as a doodle, or maybe she feels she has places to go, ponies to see. She doesn't dawdle for doodles.

Well hello darling, it's so lovely to see someone posting on this already, and especially you because I somehow feel like we haven't spoken in ages! ^_^ I'm so glad that you like all these silly little things, and especially Twilight... it really can be said that I don't draw enough of her and I suppose it's time I did something about that (so perhaps I might just have to finish her after all, for you at least!).

I honestly don't know what's going on with Rainbow Dash, because I just doodled her that way with no real backstory/reasoning for her expression in mind... I may have been thinking of a certain Rainbow Dash/Pinkie Pie-loving friend of mine at the time, though. And yes, more Rarijack! I seriously needed to draw some at the time I guess, because you're right and it had been ages since the last time (all the way back in March, I do believe? That's terrible ;-;). I'm so glad you think they're cute, and even if they are silly and hastily-made; truly it means a great deal to me! <3

Those are all wonderful, especially cute Twilight. It's good to see your sketches again and be reminded that that is where the magic begins. I also particularly like that Rarijack drawing for the way you angled their faces so as to be able to see the awkwardness in all its glory. Of course, one must be careful falling on (or in this case for?) a unicorn!

Ow wow, just look at all of these new faces that are posting here; what a lovely surprise this is! I'm so happy to see all of you since of course, we've all met already on deviantART... I hope that if you find this place to your liking then you will be more than happy to stay and join in our conversations whenever you might like, as we always welcome new friends!

And with that having been said, mahahahaa, this whole comment made me GRIN, and want to laugh, deviously! Probably because I can't help but think of your journal (I believe it was) on deviantART that I read before, where you outlined the stages you had gone through in terms of becoming a pony fan (starting with denial of course, which is where most people usually begin, and finally progressing to the point that it now makes up the vast majority of artwork that you create). I can't help but want to laugh, because that's very similar to how it happened for me too, and including progressing to the point that I found myself starting to ship ponies which has obviously now escalated and taken on a life all its own. So yes, suffice to say I'd like to feel sympathetic and apologize for corrupting yet another pure soul with my shiptastic artwork, but it's just too funny not to be entertained, my apologies~

Anyhow though I sincerely do appreciate the comments on all of the artworks, and as for your Tombstone-Applejack picture you simply MUST draw that! Even with the Rarijack aside (the delicious maraschino cherry on top of the whipped cream, I have to say) that sounds like a perfectly lovely idea, and I am entirely confident that you can do something great with it if you're inclined to try.

Ha, it's funny that you say that about the Rarijack picture because I was actually thinking the exact same thing, namely that it was good Applejack didn't fall forward any more or she probably would have lost an eye or something. And as for the angles, thank you; like I said the picture was an accident/quite unintended, but with the way I'd drawn Rarity's head to begin with it just worked well for such a thing I guess.

It's also lovely for me to hear that everyone apparently likes Twilight so much... as I said to zhoomcar this really drives the point home to me that I need to draw more of that pony and should probably finish that piece at least. But in any case the comments are truly appreciated, thank you very much dear~!

Well hello there my friend, it's lovely to see that after extending that invitation, you saw fit to stop by and join in the blog conversation after all! I do hope you'll drop by some in the future if you're so inclined to as well. Regarding the artworks thank you very much for the kind sentiments even on such simple silly pictures of mine! I really appreciate the praise coming from you, and I suppose since the public has spoken I really am going to have to consider finishing those two jacket pictures after all (and then onto the rest of the Mane Six, I guess!).

Hahaha! Well of course you love them, because as you and I have discussed before my darling we're both absolute suckers for those kinds of cute little cliche moments! I think it's a big part of the reason that we get along so nicely, and why I enjoyed your story as well... the fact that both you and it are obviously very heavy on the Rarijack though certainly does not hurt matters at all, of course. ^_~

Anyhow, thank you so much again for commenting! There is certainly no need to apologize for anything as I obviously know what it's like to be a busy person, and by the sounds of things both here and on deviantART you have likely been even more preoccupied recently than I ever am. I really hope you had some great experiences, no matter what... if you ever feel up to elaborating I'd really like to know more about the whole Cologne trip and such!

Hello again dear, and thank you so much for the kind words about these pictures, as simple as they are! I'm happy to hear you enjoyed the Rarijack especially, and I suppose at this point I'm somewhat obligated to finish the jacket-pony pictures, since I had to toss that idea out there and tease you all with sketches. I'm not really sure what's so so appealing about the idea of cuddly bipedal ponies either, but something just is, so hopefully all of you will be seeing them and others from me in the near enough future.

If one were determined not to interpret that artwork in a shipping sort of way, it could easily be viewed as mortification and relief that Rarity just barely avoiding goring poor AJ! I really do love it, though, either way. It's one of your cutest drawings.

If you do finish a series of jacket pieces, you'll be hard pressed to come up with an outerwear pun for each of them that measures up to Applejacket! Trenchlight Sparkle? Coatity? Parka Pie? Blazershy? Rainbolero Dash? ;)

It's certainly been a crazy month or so! I know that we're adults and shouldn't need to apologise for being busy but I do feel bad for not commenting after you graciously invited me to participate here.

Cologne was amazing, it's a fairly long story but I did a write up about it on my blog. Probably quicker and easier to read it there than have me waffle on about it. You can also watch the actual episodes I presenter. :)

Mark, this is the first time I've read your blog, and I just wanted to tell you that it's a great read, AND you have been leading an exceptionally interesting life lately! Winning that contest must have been a real treat, and your trip to Germany looks like a great time. Somehow I'd never heard of that bridge, but I love it! The United States is sorely lacking in romantic pedestrian-scale bridges. I will certainly check in on your blog from now on, to read about your travel adventures and thespian tendencies.

That's very true, and I actually do like that interpretation of it as well because it entertains me (poor Applejack), but of course I personally enjoy the shipping angle best. Or I suppose it could be thought of as both at once, even better!

And as for the jacket pictures, that is very funny, because I am not at all being untruthful when I tell you that I spent a good portion of my evening at work the other night trying to come up with appropriate attire-related puns for each pony (I also came up with bolero by the way, which is even more amusing). I'm not sure if I will actually end up doing that though because garments that work well for their names don't always match up with what I envision them wearing (and as you said, I think it's essentially impossible to top "Applejacket"), but if nothing else I was able to entertain myself with the notion for a while.

Oh, mercy... it's not like I didn't know about your website either (I have it bookmarked you know) but I haven't checked it recently and didn't even think to look there for any coverage/review of your trip and general life recently! I do amaze myself sometimes, and you'll have to forgive my random brain dear.

At any rate though, yes! I really must agree that your writeup of the entire trip made for quite an entertaining read, and it sounds like a very enriching experience despite the fact that it also must have been exhausting. And I loved loved loved seeing all of those videos (was that a line from Street Fighter at the end of the first one, by the way?? Oh wait, don't ask me how I know that...)! You are absolutely fantastic at what you do you know, and thank you so very much for sharing that with all of us... I'm so glad you had the opportunity to experience something like that because you truly deserve it, in my opinion. ^_^

Oh yes. I know DicePony and I tend to banter and babble about Rarijack more than anything since we both adore it so much, but beyond that he is also a very kind and lovely guy (with a most excellent voice by the way~), is quite talented and yes, happens to lead a very interesting life! He is yet another individual whom I feel very fortunate I have gotten to know, and all thanks to cute colorful ponies (and in our case, shipping them together as well! ^_~). Must love it! <3

@WhiteDiamondsIt probably felt like a while because one (or both) of us didn't check their email inboxes closely enough. But no matter, I'm busy preparing for end of year exams anyhow.

The people have spoken! Diamonds shall complete jacket ponies when she can find time! And there was much rejoicing. And I don't think I intend on catching the Rarijack fever from any of you any time soon. I must remind myself that I have a bias towards unicorns and that Twarity (Raritwi) is the best pairing. Best... ponies... -retreats into corner-

I'm finally beginning to get organized and back to commenting as I wait for the last bit of feedback before completing my current work project. I'm sorry to be so late in commenting on these delightful sketches as a result. I do love them all, naturally.

It's actually nice to see the colored Applejacket up there to use as a comparison piece. I know you did the color version relatively quickly, but you really deserve kudos for such a rich, clean and vibrant coloring job. It's an extraordinarily attractive style, keeping all of the charm of the sketches but giving it a professional looking polish. Well done!

Rarity snuggling in her furry parka is quite precious as well. I quite like the pose as she pulls back her hood and allows her luscious locks to spring free revealing her identity. And you know I love Twilight, so it's always a delight to see you sketch her. It's understandable that you don't sketch her much (I know she's a ways down your favorite pony list, thanks to your recent dA poll!) but I'm certainly not going to try to talk you out of doing more with her in the future. I like the sharper shapes you've used for her, in contrast to Rarity's soft and fluffy look... it compliments her severe mane and tale styles well, and as always she's just damn cute with her book and wide eyes. It would definitely be fun to see you take these to finish sometime.

Grumpy, embarrassed Dash is great too, and shows the difference between the clean style you've used on AJ at the top and this quicker style. I actually quite like the color you've done with her hair... it has an attractive, natural quality to it, oddly enough. You've done a nice job of making a blue pegasus blush as well without it standing out unnaturally, and I quite like the vibrant choices for her here.

Of all the new stuff, though, the last picture is the real treat. For a quick doodle, it has a really successful composition... the cramped nature of it just reinforces the intimacy, and the interlocking positions of their heads just sells the moment beautifully. That the action and story of this moment is captured and relayed to the viewer with so little of the ponies themselves showing is no small accomplishment. Really a great little bit of cartooning!

Oh come now, did you really also think of a bolero pun? Too funny! Of course, you're right that it's simply not possible to top Applejacket. (That doesn't mean that there aren't equally good non-attire-related pony puns out there, waiting to be exploited!)

As an attorney, my pony life and my work life shall likely never cross, although I did overhear a colleague mention bronies in a positive light recently - a real surprise.

I can't recall any other romantic public traditions that are as lovely as the bridge and locks - not only is it charming, but it's so much less gruesome than carving your initials into a living tree. If you ever hear of other traditions like that elsewhere in the world, or there in the UK, I'd love to know about them.

I have to agree with WhiteDiamonds, by the way - you have a wonderful voice and I'm very jealous of it. I am also very partial to impersonations!

Haha, oh you're so funny. I do understand that it isn't always such a wild ride through life for you, but still you seem to lead a more interesting existence than many of us do (and certainly more than I do I imagine). And yes, on that note I do very much understand and respect the idea of keeping pony and "real life"/especially career separate, or for the most part anyway because on occasion mine do seem to overlap with the type of work that I do.

And oh, pish! Whatever nice things I may say about you, or anyone else here I firmly believe is the truth that needs to be spoken, you know. There is no denying it! ^_~

Oh dear, does that mean that I missed a message somewhere along there? If so I doubt it's a matter of me simply not checking it enough (though on occasion, this could be the case) because more often than not I tend to just get a lot of mail and things get buried. Anyway I do apologize for that... you wouldn't be the first person I've managed to do that to I'm sorry to say.

Yes, the people have indeed spoken (and do check out my following post after all of these replies!) and jacket-ponies shall be completed at some yet-to-be-determined point in the future. On a completely different note I do wish you luck with your upcoming exams dear, not that you'll need it from me I'm sure!

Oh, dearest friend, you are always far too good to me you know! Thank you so much for such generous and in-depth kindly feedback on all of these pictures, even though none of them are really all that much to speak of when you think about it. And also, before I go any further I just wanted to clarify that Twilight is not at all far down on my favorite-pony list! In fact sometimes she's number three, but other times as I said it's Rainbow Dash (though often, depending on the episode the latter really annoys me too). But in any case no, I do very much like Twilight and feel it is impossible to deny her own special brand of cuteness... even though I have come across dislike for most of the characters at some point or another, I don't think I've ever heard anyone say a word against her.

With that having been said, I'm so glad you enjoyed those sketches, because I thought of you when I posted them of course! Especially Twilight, obviously, and I'm delighted you picked up on that with the jacket design because my feelings were the same about the style suiting her (Rarity, on the other hand, originally sported buttons on her coat as you might be able to see, but I felt a cleaner, fluffier, more luxurious finish would probably work better for her). It's amazing that you even like Rainbow Dash, and as for the Rarijack you are entirely too complimentary, but I'm so happy you like it regardless, of course! That was really a perfect example of an instance where something you're drawing just spins out of control and takes on a life of its own, and in this case (as I told Ponydora) the angle of Rarity's head just worked perfectly for this, I guess.

Anyway, thank you so much again for everything darling. You really are the greatest! <3

Oh don't worry about it dear... none of you are ever obligated to comment at all and as I said I'm just pleased you liked all of these silly things. And yes, believe it or not I actually did come up with bolero! There is something to be said for both of us having clothing more at the forefront of our minds than many people might, I suppose, even if I didn't ever suspect that would at all come in handy in regards to ponies. It's funny the way life works sometimes!

And okay, this is all rather pointless honestly but still, I thought I would share a few things with all of you that may or may not be relevant to anything we've been discussing! The first picture is at least, and this is the stage at which I last left off with work on it... at this point, I don't know if I'll actually just leave it there for a while and finish Twilight (or something else entirely) first but either way, some of you might be interested in seeing it I suppose:

The second one is primarily for you Harwick dear, because we were only discussing this just last night of course and I figured there might be some doubt on your part of just how expansive my tea collection really is. Keep in mind that this isn't even all of it, and yes those are tins stacked behind the other things in the very back... it amazes even me to be honest...

And lastly, this is just a picture I found on my camera when I went to get the others, and it was so pretty that I thought I might share. Rainbow Dash came to visit me a couple of weeks ago after a storm passed you see, as taken from the front of my house looking across the street:

I do love when the blog posts diverge from strictly discussing art and into ruminations on life and rainbows, you know. And nothing you write is pointless, of course, because we're all here for you after all.

Thank you first of all for sharing the WIP. It's a glimpse into your creative process, and even though I know relatively little about drawing programs and layers and things, I can see how it is beginning to come together. You're the greatest there is when it comes to posing figures and expressions, and Rarity looks so outrageously cute that it should be illegal.

As for the tea, I was just posting on dA that now I'M coming down with something, and tea with a little honey would be just the thing for my sore throat. That's a very impressive collection. I've been in some of the tea shops in Chinatown in SF, with there hundresd of varieties in wall to wall bins, and I suspect you could do some serious pocketbook damage in a place like that!

Last but in no way least, that is a beautiful photograph. I love rainbows, and that is a particularly beautiful one. You also live in a very photogenic neighborhood, but the looks of things! Are your neighbors across the streets diminutive redheads with a propensity for wearing green by any chance? - because the rainbow seems to end right on their house.

There was recently a fairly amazing double rainbow over San Francisco - I was out of town and missed it, but many of my friends saw it and said how spectacular it was (and went all the way across the sky ... what does it mean? ... so bright, so vivid - whoa! - etc., etc.)

Oh, and of course you have a lovely feline companion - if I don't ever have much substantive to say about poor Gracie, it is certainly no slight against her - I actually like the idea of cats very much, it is only that I am terribly allergic to them, and have never had the opportunity to spend much time around them as a result!

But anyway, thank you so much for posting a little slice of your life! :)

Hahaha! Oh mercy, I laughed so hard at that silly 'diminutive redheads' comment, you have no idea. Thank you very much for that dear, and no they are not, that I have seen anyway. But then again I don't know that I ever did see much of them (they have moved out as of two weeks ago, after this picture was taken)... I suppose they must have taken their Irish luck with them either way, because I don't believe I've seen another rainbow since then.

I have to agree that the double rainbow in your area was fabulous, and it's a shame you didn't get to see it yourself but at least there were plenty of pictures taken. As for my neighborhood, it is rather a nice place truly, and part of me is now loath to leave because I've just really started getting more comfortable here. Oh well, we shall see what happens at the end of the year I suppose, and how things end up going with my work...

I'm glad you enjoyed the wip picture; my process is really nothing special though, as I really only have two active layers (the third is the basic pencil sketch which you've already seen above!). Indeed, I love and adore tea and am sure those Chinatown shops would not at all bode well for my pocketbook, and as for Grace I shall pass on your compliments and regards. Truth be told, I'm actually quite allergic to cats myself and it used to be very, very bad, but over the time I've been living with her, and on a religious allergy pill regime for the first couple years (I found her as a stray kitten outside my work you see) I seem to have grown immune enough that she can now come into my bedroom and indeed, she likes to sleep under the covers with me half the time. Still though I do occasionally get sniffly if I pet her too much, and absolutely need to remember to wash my hands before accidentally touching my face... I made the mistake of rubbing an eye last night when I was getting tired, and I think it was itching and watering for an hour after that.

Anyway though, I am happy that you enjoyed my randomness at least. Thank you very much for the pleasant conversation, and as with Harwick I certainly hope that you start feeling better immediately!

Aww! Those are adorable (-^u^-) I'm looking forward to seeing the sketches finished (and the other girls if it ever happens), it was also nice to see a work in progress image (not to mention the controls for Sai, I've been curious about it for ages but then I'm not sure if it's a free program either)

And the Rarity & Applejack picture is also adorable (And definately the best way this could have turned out, considering Earth Ponies probably have a sturdier frame than Unicorns in addition to the previously mentioned issue of a Pony's eyes being roughly half of their face, but still this is a really cute picture) Oh, but going back to the previous picture's conversation for a moment, I've read some of that story and it is rather cute (Though what caught my attention was the description in the featured box since the mirror is a reference to the Magic Mirror from the first Generation of My Little Pony)

But going back to the topic of rainbows I remember seeing one that was almost a perfect circle once, as well as a few that have a strand of pink

I am soooo late to this party D: Curse you, real life, for having the audacity to distract us mortals so. I'll try to keep up better.

I must say first and foremost that I thought I might have been leading the Twilight train until I started reading the comments. She's absolutely adorable there. Completely. And furthermore, I think I will always be won over by pencil sketches, so that's twice the points for her. You can have the prettiest digital art styles on the Internet, and at the end of the day I'll still love to sit back and see some pencil art... I'm pretty sure I've said this before, of course, but I feel it's worth mentioning anyways! Rarity is also very cute. I think that outfit definitely suits her.

Rainbow Dash... I'm afraid I have very little to say on her. She does seem awfully disgruntled, and her tail looks like it had a collision with a toucan or somesuch :P I don't think there's any way to beat around that bush, really.

And then we have... cute blushie cliché Rarijack moment? This turnip will always approve of cute blushie cliché moments >~> They exist for a reason, after all... Even if that reason is simply to satisfy us silly people who enjoy them. They're just too charming D:

To this post specifically, all these little extras are cute. My mother's tea cupboard actually looks something similar to that, and it's even more condensed even if the quantitative content is about the same. Trying to get something out of the back is... it's a problem, let's just say~ Your cat also looks so fuzzy and I'd love to cuddle with her D: There are no cuddly cats in my house anymore, I'm afraid. It's a sad day when you have no cats to spend time with.

That is an absolutely beautiful picture. A double rainbow is one thing, but the time of day and the colours of the sky... I would love, love to see something like that here. We don't see such things very often. Also, I hope your cold subsides, if it hasn't already :C A lot of people seem to be struck by colds these days and I can't imagine anybody is enjoying it.

So that's what SAI looks like, eh? Lovely work-in-progress! She's so fluffy! Some day I shall have to play around with that program and see what freedoms it has to offer.

That is quite the horde of tea! I want to stick my nose in that cupboard and inhale deeply... Well, once I have that ability returned to me, at least.

As for the lazy fuzz, I stuck my ear right up against the screen and yet I still don't hear anything. Still, I'm sure her meow is special, and why wouldn't it be? She keeps rarefied company, after all.

And your street looks so bright and cheerful, even without the added rainbow in the sky. Sure, Ponydora had to go and raise you a double rainbow, but your neighborhood is extra shiny, with lovely curb appeal.

That was an impressive gallery of photos... I especially liked the ones from the ballpark. Speaking of baseball, the Pirates have crushed the spirits of the entire town out here, playing so well before the break and yet still going into their traditional free-fall, seeming to cast away their chance for their first winning season in 19 years or so (not to mention the possible play-off spot.) They even lost on "Talk Like A Pirate Day".

And I too used to be very allergic to cats, but it seemed to fade as I grew older. Now I have to be around them/handle them for a good while before it begins to get to me. Naturally, cats have a tendency to pass up other people to come rub up against me and sit in my lap whenever I visit friends with felines. I think it's all a plan to take down the vulnerable first before they spring on the others. Yet I pet them anyway... damn irresistible little demons.

SF and Pittsburgh both have two of the nicest ballparks in the country, but I love the backdrop we have, with the bay and the bridge, and sometimes beautiful things like that rainbow!

I have hesitated to mention the poor Pirates. I almost feel badly for Andrew McCutchen, who would have won MVP if his team had not imploded around him. I say almost because Buster is now the heavy favorite for National League MVP! But hey, you still have the Steelers and your Pens (well, if there is a hockey season this year).

But yeah, I really thought the Bucs were going to the playoffs this year. There's always next season!

Sorry I've been away for so long; I thought things would slow down in August, but it turned out busier than July. Now that I've fallen so far behind on commenting that there's no way to get it all done in one day, I no longer feel obligated to get it all done at once, so that particular OCD-related mental block is out of the way. ;P (And just in case my absence has caused anyone to worry about this: my father is doing fine and making steady progress in his recovery.)

Art time! As basic as it is, I really enjoy your Applejacket drawing; it was definitely one of my favorites in the Applejack Appreciation Drawfriend. It's an amusingly whimsical drawing with a perfect title; the coloring and shading are excellent, and AJ's pose and expression make for a cute portrait. The sketches for Rarity and Twilight are wonderfully appealing as well, perfectly capturing Rarity's elegance and TWilight's adorkableness. I look forward to seeing what you do with the rest of the Mane 6 (especially Rainbolero Dash, which is very nearly as good a title as Applejacket). And while I really don't want to make you feel in any way obligated, if you find the time and inspiration to do so, I hope you can add Spike to the jacket-pony portrait set.

And I'm thrilled to see a couple more doodles from you; while they lack the polish and detail of your more involved drawings, they possess a charm and a liveliness of their own that I adore. Your Rainbow Dash doodle is a perfect example: even in a simple standing pose, you have her bold, impatient personaility shining through. The "decidedly garish" colors really help out in that regard. And the Rarijack drawing transcends the o.s.h.t.a./o.f.o.t.o.p.s.n.w.s.b.j.s.a.b.f.f.af.m. cliche with a tight composition that makes the cute silliness of the situation fresh again. It also made me realize how much I like the contrast of Rarity's and Applejack's color schemes.

I'm glad to read that you had such an enjoyable time in Cologne; thanks for sharing the story with us! The "lock bridge" is such a creative idea, and a lot more meaningful than just writing/carving a pair of names in a cartoon heart somewhere.

It's quite a coincidence how many of us are allergic to cats here. I didn't find that out about myself until I was 12 or 13 years old; it helped explain why, having lived with cats all my life, I was sneezing all the time. Regular allergy shots for a couple of years drastically cut down on my allergic reaction to them, thankfully.

As for myself, I don't have much to report that would be of general interest, except for my trip down to Greensboro, NC recently to finally see Singin' in the Rain on the big screen. While in the big city, I was able to check out Toys 'R' Us and expand my pony collection. I'm definitely looking forward to the other minifigure collector sets that are scheduled to come out; here's hoping they're out in time for the October showing of Lawrence of Arabia...

I certainly don't know of any other romantic traditions in the UK, except the aforementioned gruesome carving of initials into trees or graffiti on public toilet walls...

And so many people think all Brits are classy. How wrong you all are. ;)

Thank you very much for the compliment about my voice. It's one of those things where I just think I sound like a sarcastic geek, but it's good to know it's not unpleasant to listen to! Means I'm not totally crazy for choosing this line of work!

My favourite impersonation is definitely my Christopher Walken. I even got accused of letting him "slip out" during a lighter scene in Julius Caesar but I of course denied such claims! ;)

I have to say it's great to chat to you properly! Flight of the Alicorn was such a big inspiration for me to actually sit down and write my own little story. I am so impressed at the quality of your writing and the the sheer volume of it! I'm going crazy trying to finish a 45,000 word story I can't *imagine* what you've been through with FotA!

I apologise I was complaining a bit too much (not whining!) about the slowness of my work lately.

I've been very fortunate in my life, I've gotten to do some amazing things, meet amazing people and have wonderful experiences. There's been some bad things along the way (lovelife and financial things mostly...) but I wouldn't change it for a second.

Plus this creative life is just so, so, so liberating. After six years in an office, I am so glad to have some freedom!

I try and keep my fandom "activities" separate from my career. It's no secret that I am a fan of the show and often talk about/link to artwork or videos from my public Twitter/Facebook but I'd rather not have all my colleagues and non-pony friends reading Jewel. Not that I am ashamed of it, but the explanation would certainly be a test of my communication skills! XD

And there is no denying how lovely you are to say such nice things. And you must know we feel the same about your incredible and beautiful works of artistry m'lady! ;)

Oooh! Loving the Rarijacket (Hoooo I see what you did there!) WIP. It looks great, the pose and characterisation are spot on and it is just so darn charming! :)

And you know despite me being an Englishman I am just not a big fan of tea. If I do have it, I have what we call "Builders Tea" which is English Breakfast tea with lots of sugar and milk and brewed strong.

Ah, sorry I'm late. I've been too busy to stop by and comment for the last week due to the work I've had. (Every night, I'm told that I won't be needed again. Every morning, there is something else to be done.) But what a welcome surprise you have left for us while I've been away; you've made this day that much more rewarding.

Now, where was I... First, I understand it probably was not your intention for Applejack, but she actually looks dapper in a way, dressed from head to torso. Her jacket is noticably different from other objects and surfaces in your doodles due to its dark, consistent color and low contrast. I really like the cuffs of its sleeves, though that's partly because they look oddly masculine on her (and formal on such a casual clothing piece). It's no secret that I'm not a fan of anything that suggests anthropomorphism in my ponies (The scene where Flim stood up straight by the podium in Super Speedy Cider Squeezy 6000 made me worry about how it might be used as a reference in future internet arguments), but you've given it charm with this close-to-canon style. I'm not sure how well it will work once she gets back on all fours, however. I'm glad you've gotten around to coloring this old favorite. It was almost as overdo as this comment.

Your jacket series is a superb idea, and perfectly suited for you with your personal expertise. I admire your ability to take a character's personality and express its characteristics in the form of water-resistant outdoor attire. (Well, except for Rarity; in her case, I imagine you only had to step inside your walk-in closet full of identical furry coats and you had your answer.) I am unsure about whether I really have a favorite character or not, but I always meet the idea of my favorite artist drawing Twilight with utmost ethusiasm. It's funny, her tastes (or the way that artists tend to perceive them) are always so closely attuned to my own. (And I will take it as a very early birthday present; thank you very much for that.) Do you know what type of jacket it is? The closest match I could find on Google Images was a blazer. It's so distinguished, so formal... Twilight is just a sharp pony, in every sense. (Did you decide to draw her next because she was third on your deviantART "favorite pony" poll?) She rather looks like a detective with her wide, cut collar and cufflinks. (Not to mention it might just be a notebook that she's holding.) Everyone else has said it here already, but I refuse to let that stop me: You draw the most adorable Twilight. I will look forward to these future fashion ponies in anticipation. Our beloved main unicorns may have had their moment in the spotlight yet, but if life is a fashion show, you are always a star.

Dash is making quite an artistic appearance (That's a very unique background behind her), and living up to her name. Your drawing reminds me of this one in your favorites. I still think you've changed your style of drawing ears since you posted "Last Pony". The thin, long and pointed ears of your past doodles are now more rounded, and almost teddy bear-like. My favorite part is the dramatic, high-contrast in her eyes. O, fair Rainbow, I know not what pains you. But please, bold pegasus mare, let the recipient of your anger be clouds.

Your last doodle is a testament to how much an experienced artist can draw in a short period of time. Applejack's freckles almost look like sweat, don't they? As every incorrigible romantic knows, the most fun time in the progression of a relationship is the bridge between friendship and established intimacy. (How I know that, however, is a subject of debate and mystery.) If I had to come up with a non-shippy explanation for it, it would go along the lines of, "Rarity, I think I put this blush on too thick. What do you think?"

I'll be off again tomorrow (by that, I mean the 22nd), but not for long, and it was a very welcome change of pace. I may return later if I have anything to add to the current conversation. I haven't even returned to drawing yet, but it will happen whenever I'm given the chance. Your sketches and doodles are more than enough motivation for me.

Oh my goodness, it's JODY! I am not going to lie, I have been thinking about you more and more recently, and as respectful as I try to be of your privacy and busy adult life I was thinking I was going to need to send an email or something soon. It is such a wonderful delight to hear from you, and I'm so glad to know that you're okay, thank you so much for stopping by here! **infinite, crushing digital hugs**

Ahh but it does feel nice to get that out of my system~ and anyway! Please don't ever feel obligated at all to 'catch up with comments' here, on deviantART, or wherever, because it really doesn't matter to me and I'm just happy to see you when you have the time to stop in (or by, or whatever it may be). With that having been said though, of course I am happy to hear that you like all of these silly little things! I haven't gotten any further with any of the jacket-pony pictures I'm sorry to say, and though I can't say I considered making a Spike-version at all I suppose that is a possibility. I'm delighted you like Applejacket anyway, as well as that silly Rainbow Dash and even sillier (arguably) Rarijack... that delightfully entertaining feedback made me laugh! Thank you for that, and I do have to agree with you on their color schemes... purple/blue and yellow/orange are of course compliments, and so they do tend to stand off of each other rather well despite Rarity's whiteness.

It's a relief to hear about you and cats, because I thought I remembered a certain Princess Peach that you had shared a photo of before. And I am glad I'm not the only person ("crazy cat lady", as our dear Harwick so diplomatically put it =p) who has ever suffered to live with felines despite the fact that it would probably be much easier not to!

Aaaghh, you procured yourself a Zecora toy! That is absolutely wonderful and I wish I had managed to find one myself, but still if anyone deserves one I feel it must be you (I still think of you every time I see her you know). I can't say I have ever had the pleasure of seeingSingin' in the Rain on the big screen myself, but can only imagine that must have been a lovely experience, and it's nice that you had a good time.

Thank you so much again for stopping by, it really is lovely to see you! <3

Oh, D'AWWWW!! That little comic is absolutely ADORABLE, and funnily enough Grace was actually found in a box (underneath a soda machine however, and it was not nighttime nor was it raining, and imagine me wearing a Starbucks apron at the time). I took her home on my lunch break to feed her and give her a place to rest and such, never intending to keep her, but of course we all know how that goes... ^_^;

Anyway I'm glad you enjoyed all of those little artwork-samplings, and as for SAI you actually can download a free trial version (it's good for two months I believe, and after that is in the very affordable $60-70 USD range which fluctuates slightly depending on the current exchange rate). I do highly recommend it even if you're just curious, as my automatically-resized-by-Photobucket image doesn't do it justice, and as I've told many people before I personally adore the program.

As for that magic-mirror story once again, I've read the first three chapters now and have really enjoyed it... it's not anything profound by any means but considering the series isn't either I don't generally have a problem with that in my fanfiction. The foals sound like they must be adorable at any rate (I loved the description of the Pinkie-Fluttershy cross who is solid pink with 'little wings that never stop buzzing'), and Rarity's nightmare scene with their foal wanting to play dress-up at her fashion show was just too adorable for words. It's strange for me that despite the fact I was a big pony-fan back in the 80s and had all of the toys and everything, I don't remember the Magic Mirror story at all, but then again I suppose it was quite a while ago at this point.

Oh, don't even worry about it dear! It's like I told the others, it's not like any of you are ever obligated to comment on anything I do, and of course I understand what it's like to be busy. I don't mind, even though it is pleasant to hear from you obviously.

But anyhow! I am glad that you like all of the artworks (well, except for Rainbow Dash I suppose, though I'm not sure I really understand the "toucan" comment) and yes, as I've said I think that Twilight especially does need to be finished considering how little I draw of her. It's lovely that you enjoyed the Rarijack as well, even if it is cliche and hastily-made... thank you very much!

Indeed, I actually do have several more boxes and tins of tea that were removed so you could get a feeling for how deep the shelf is, and as I said there are others that are only somewhat visible in the very back against the wall as well. Also the wooden box on the shelf is full of assorted teas, and the same with the large black tin (on the right-hand side of the picture)... I like to have something for every possible mood and craving I suppose. ^_^; As for Grace she is indeed incredibly fuzzy, and as I have told Harwick she has one of the most unique coats I have ever felt on a cat (I've had many throughout my life)... it's very "stand-offish" so she feels more like a plush toy than anything. I find myself scooping her up to squeeze her several times throughout the day, but she doesn't love being held very much so she's not really the most cuddly feline around, ah well~

Lastly that tag, yes. I'm happy I was able to inadvertently entertain you with that, and I almost had to laugh at myself as well but when I was writing this post, I realized that I really ought to have a thing for such a purpose. I draw enough of it for one thing of course, and for another I know through my statistics pages that a notable portion of my hits on the blog come from people running Google searches for Rarijack, so I figured I may as well make it easier for them to find what they want once they are here... ^^;

Well hello dear, I certainly hope that you are feeling somewhat better at this point! ^_^ And I hope you were able to enjoy some hot tea the other night after all, even though I haven't managed to send any to you yet (I will though, because if nothing else you truly NEED to taste that fabulous white chocolate-mocha blend from the apothecary I mentioned). That is indeed SAI, which you really should try out if only for fun as I told Poppun, and as for Grace it truly is special; it's so different from the meow of any other cat I've ever had! So incredibly soft and cute... the next time we speak I shall get her to demonstrate to you somehow, I'll figure something out!

"Extra shiny" neighborhood, hahaha! Well of course it had just rained when that picture was taken which always helps things to look prettier, but it's true it is a very nice street and area... I've gotten to really like it here and in a way it's a shame now that I'm going to have to leave again, meh..

Oh don't even worry about it dear, I don't think I recall you whining or complaining loudly about your work overly much, and Goddess knows I probably am guilty of the same thing whenever I'm tired or have had a particularly vexing week (which seems to not be the case as much these days, thankfully). Certainly I have to agree with you about a creative life, no matter what; even though it can be a challenge at times, I don't think I'd trade it for anything and definitely not for an office job... I did that as well for a time (for two years only, when I was in school) and it just wasn't for me I'm afraid!

Haha, oh so you caught me there with that title did you! I'll confess it wasn't actually intentional, but once I'd named it I realized it too and did wonder if anyone else would think of that (and of course, it would be you who would notice it!). I'm glad you think it's shaping up nicely so far, and as for that "Builder's Tea" that actually sounds quite good to me. I like most any sort of warm beverage though, and am quite fond of hot chocolate as well I must say. ^_~

Thank you again for always being so lovely, and you still do deserve the praise you know so I shall happily continue giving it!

Oh there you are dear, hello! I did wonder about you but figured you were just busy (and you are back in school now too, aren't you?). As I said to the others don't ever worry about time taken for posts or anything like that... even if you missed this one altogether it's not like it would be a crime after all, and I certainly wouldn't hold it against you.

Still though, I am of course happy to hear that you like all the artworks so, thank you very much! <3 It may not have been my attention to make Applejack look "dapper" here but I can't argue with you that she really does in a way (and I think she might agree as well... lovable silly pony). You're right that the coloring for the jacket is somewhat different... in fact, the entire picture is a bit different because even though it's a doodle and colored in more or less the same style as my usual pictures are, I went with a more unified (and in this case, very warm) color scheme and slightly less contrast overall, because I wanted to try for a softer end result. So yes, I am very happy you like it, and for the record I have to say I entirely agree with you about overly-anthropomorphized ponies.

I'm so happy that everyone likes that Twilight picture as well, so if nothing else I simply must finish her sometime soon! As for her coat, I imagined it as a very clean and streamlined A-line, which for whatever reason just seemed to suit her (if ponies walked on two legs and wore such things)... it really is wonderful to hear that you enjoy it so much and feel that it works well for her, too, thank you! I am very flattered that you feel my Rainbow Dash is at all reminiscent of that picture in my favorites, because I only wish I could be so capable with color (and really, when I think on it such bright hues and bold contrasts probably are best suited to action shots like that), and concerning my ponies' ears, it's possible they might have changed a little in style over time but I'm still not entirely convinced. I would think it would be hard to tell just going off of my pictures since "Last Pony", since as I said I colored that picture differently and ended up covering a lot of the original lineart which I think that accounted for the difference there, and obviously Tabitha's picture was done in an entirely different style (most everything about Rarity there is different from my usual drawings of her, I think) so I'm not so sure that should count. Applejacket is an older sketch as you already know and I did not change her ears at all, and I don't think those in the "Colorful Blush" doodle look too different from my older works either. For 'Rarijacket' they are somewhat different true, but it's very likely I will change them somewhat in the finished product anyway.

Your comments on the Rarijack picture made me laugh, probably just because of your appraisal of romantic progression delivered with that oh-so-dry "only Anon" charm... it's times like this I absolutely adore you dear, you're too cute. As an incorrigible romantic myself, of course, I would probably have to agree with you (hence the reason my favorite ship-fics tend to be the terrible teasers, I've realized as time has gone on), and it's probably good for you that you've discovered this so early on, and without having had to experience it first-hand on more than one occasion (or at least I can only hope!).

And oh right, Coconutswallow... he's around I believe, as he and I have been talking back and forth on deviantART a little, though granted it has probably been two weeks since I've seen him (likely because it's taken me about that long to respond to his latest reply to me though, I'm rather ashamed to say..). I'm sure he'll turn up eventually, but if not I can still think of him fondly!

Isn't it? Kitten Opal looks so much more cuddley than she does now (or at least, dosen't look like she would try to scratch you if you tried to pick her up and weren't Fluttershy). But your story sounds adorable, Grace must have been have been very cute as a Kitten(^.^-)

Hmm, maybe I should give it a try then, I saw a live stream of it being used for a picture

But they are cute (strange that I find Pony babies cute but when somebody asks if anyone wants to hold their's my first thought is "Oh please not me") but it is funny that the Pinkieshy foal would turn out that way since originally Pinkie Pie was a Pegasus whose wings would buzz like a hummingbird's whenever she ate sugar. But I can imagine all sorts of fun little situations such as Pinkieshy throwing little parties for Fluttershy's animals, Rainbow Dash responding to Twilight's suggestion that they start reading books about archeology to their daughter with Daring Do books and of course....

Rarity: Applejack, you are not teaching her to farm apples, Unicorns don't farm. She takes after me and needs a passtime more-

*Foal starts crying*

Applejack: She takes after you alright, she sure didn't get that cry from me.

I actually just read the entirety of that story (through what has been posted so far, that is) earlier today and quiet enjoyed it. The latest chapter has them naming the fillies, which offered some fun comedic moments. It is rather slow to unfold though, and the fillies themselves have barely been in the story, really.

It does feel like the divided the fillies by popular shipping pairs, and then had Pinkie/Fluttershy left over... I'm not sure I've ever actually seen a story matching those two before.

Indeed, Happy Birthday to the blog! Reviewing the EQD Drawfriends, I discovered that we passed the 1 year anniversary of my involvement with the fandom as well (Sept. 13 saw my first pony artwork), and from discussion with Di it seems we both got into the show sometime around August of last year.

It seems strange that it's already been a full year of pony for me. How about everyone else? When did people first get into the show, and when did you first get active in the community in some way? (like posting here.)

Well, thanks in no small part to the recent convention, Canterlot Gardens, I have been busy again. Still, I had a very fun and eventful time watching the livestream. (Coincidentially, one of the viewers in the livestream chat had the same reason for his absence from the convention as mine.) With that in mind, this is everything I've taken from the past week:

I had a long message prepared, but the power went out for a minute and I lost what I had typed out. So, I am going to write a brief one instead. Apart from the VA panel and expected appearances of Andrew W.K. and illusionist Brian Brushwood, Tara Strong and a few non-pony voice actors had their own panel to perform a Comic Con-style blind reading of Boast Busters. (John DiMaggio was in attendance, so of course Trixie was played by Bender in one scene.) Mane6's Fighting is Magic and Legends of Equestria had their own separate panels as well. The audience watched a fully animated Rainbow Dash in gameplay and we got to see some of the animations prepared for Fluttershy. About an hour after the LoE panel, a test build was shared online to stress test the LoE servers.

Of course, I tried to be among of the first to play the build at its release. It is an unspoken notion among the testers that the best race to test with will invariably be the pegasus, as exploration really is the only thing you can do in the game at the moment. Some of the watchers in the convention's livestream (myself included) happened to notice a pony running around in-game that looked a lot like MicTheMicrophone's OC, and I was not especially interested in designing my own character, so I copied the first pegasus that came to mind; WoodenToaster's OC. (This is relevant information. Really. It was a clear choice, after all. He gets all the brony girls.) I noticed that one of the ponies in the group I was following around happened to look very similar to TheLivingTombstone's OC. It was like a pony musician Halloween. I even found the real Mic (along with Interrobang Pie) in-game. And I have proof! Interrobang happened to take a screenshot of the crowd surrounding Mic, which included me in the picture, and posted it to Tumblr. (You can click to see the full-sized image. I'll let you guess which one I am. I seem to be meeting with my cousin, Nameless. That yellow body looked much lighter when I made it...)

The test release was greatly enjoyable for me, in any case. The experience ended far too quickly, but it was dreamlike to fly through the village while it lasted. I'm glad I was there to participate.

I was anticipating the reveal of the community musicians in attendance at the convention, since the Canterlot Gardens website did not list the expected guests on that panel. To my surprise, there were about fourteen musicians included in the panel at once, though I only recognised two. Mandopony did make a brief appearance on the first day of the convention because he was needed to play some of Michele's songs, but he had to leave immediately after their performance. Poni1Kenobi explained where he got his inspiration for the song "Great to be Different": During BroNYCon, envelopes were left on tables containing a note that read, "It's great to be different", a reference to Derpy. Similar to Andrew W.K., SilvaHound gave an inspirational speech about learning to do what you really like rather than whatever is popular, because you aren't going to be successful at your work unless you truly care for its quality.

As for the actual concerts over the convention, I only paid much attention to the bands that gave actual live performances rather than DJs who simply danced to digital recordings. Even then, when the lights are dim and the only people on stage are half-naked singers and guitarists, you know the party is over.

Apart from the convention, I also happened to catch MicTheMicrophone's livestream as he was playing Kingdom Hearts. This was entertaining enough already, as Mic is usually a fairly humorous commentator, but it got even more interesting after he decided to play the indie horror game Slender. (Amusingly, one of the new flashlights was a "glowstick". To quote Mic, "Uns, uns, uns, uns...") It's hardly scary to watch if you aren't the one playing, and his high-pitched screams in reaction to the sight of a tall man with impeccable taste in formal wear made for a far more entertaining video than whatever was being streamed from Canterlot Gardens at the time. Mic mentioned that he would livestream a movie after he finished the game (in daytime mode), and I was interested in seeing what he might put on, but he decided to play Portal 2 with a friend instead (leading to the creation of this comic).

Somehow, brony musicians have been very relevant over the past seven days. I learned recently that some of my favorite songwriters have their own production livestreams. This sudden realisation compelled me to imitate their methods and learn how to use this thing. I am happy to report that I have learned that it is ridiculously complicated. I had the same reaction as this guy. I have learned how to make it go "beep". Once, I even made it go "wub". I can't really show that in text or images, so I'll just say it sounds like this: Wub, wub, wub. Beep, wub. (I'm kidding, of course. They were only beeps.) It made me think about how hard it must be for these pony songwriters to think of material to work with. There really should be more of a discussion about what the theme of the next Toastbeard should be. They only received a decent one last Saturday. I really don't know how TB's administrator (Sci) expects anyone to think of a song on the premise of "Applejack meets alien apples from outer space".

I haven't forgotten about drawing, and though my time has been consumed by so many other things, I did bring myself to watch Valcron's livestream and try to draw a pony using his methods. This is only part of a larger project that I have in mind. It is meant to be, well, silly and cartoon-like, which is why I decided to try this in Valcron's charmingly simplistic style. The pose called for a well-adjusted unicorn (hint; it's Rarity) facing a 90 degree angle from the camera. I generally dislike these poses because it's common for beginner artists to draw their characters facing a side direction as they don't know how to draw with depth. It almost feels like a step down, but I tried it with the best hopes.

I started out with this show-accurate reference. Based on that, I tried to partly copy it by eye, keeping the proportions the same as they are in the show. That was a bad idea, as it resulted in this monstrosity. (If the eye and cutie mark look like they were done in under a minute, you make a good judge of my rate of progress over time.) I didn't bother to sketch the hair because I knew that this style would not be acceptable. (It's worth noting that I've actually gotten a bit better at drawing hair. Which is odd, considering I've barely used my tablet for anything since I got it, and especially not over the past few months.) Mostly unsatisfied, I tried again. This time, it would be based on Valcron's style and proportions. I stopped using any references except for the sketches in his livestream. With my best efforts, after passing it through all of my perfectionism filters, the result was this. It's entirely possible that I might redraw it later, but I'm willing to work with it for the time being.

Oh, and like most conventions, Canterlot Gardens had an event for the cosplayers to show off their costumes. At the end of the segment, they were all called to the stage to take pictures. The largest was the "villan" group, which included a Slenderman. At the end, when were asked to strike a pose, the Slenderman started dancing "Gangnam Style", prompting all of the other villain cosplayers to break into Gangman Style dance. So, that happened.

In regards to your question about my school work, actually, I've always been in school. I use a virtual school (which is a type of home schooling) that allows me to make my own schedule. It's like self-employment, except you're never paid, your work is judged by a moment's glance and your clients send you threatening letters if you don't do it. That is, it's just like self-employment.

Shortly before jumping on the convention train, when I was going to bed, I asked myself this; what if this blog was a TF2 team? The idea was too good, and I couldn't resist. The Heavy is our big, derpy leader, Blogger. I do make an appearance, though. It gets better when you realize the similaries that each class has with the ways we tend to converse. WhiteDiamedic helps everyone equally and is responsible for looking after the Heavy. ZhoomScout will quickly "bonk" anything of interest as he runs by. PrancySpy may stab the Medic or the Engineer before disappearing into the shadows. The Pyro just runs in and says, "Hey guys, you look cold in here."

I started watching the show in late April, near the end of the first season. I decided to watch the first episode because images of the show were flooding Memebase, and the programmer friend I've stayed in contact with had suggested it to me. I've never been an animation enthusiast (and FiM hasn't made me one either), but I have watched my share of Flash-animated cartoons over the course of my childhood. I could see that the show was something different, so most of my doubt was gone by that time and I pretty much knew that I would like it. I started following this blog after WhiteDiamonds' first commission for Jody was featured in a drawfriend (on November 7th). The concentration and perseverance in Octavia's eyes was captivating to me like no other work of fanart I had ever seen. I related to her, as I have been a jack of trades for a number of years, and I have always looked for ways to implement creativity however possible. My projects would often require intense determination and patience. Twice, I spent months repetitively building game worlds so painstaking detailed, they eventually crashed the game halfway through their production. I saw the same sense of commitment in her. The sense that, with enough time and effort, the things that you will create will bring you satisfaction unlike anything else in the world.

Beyond that, the soft shading and obvious attention to detail in the scene was unparalleled. The picture was striking as it was touching. For the first time in my life, I looked at a work of art and thought to myself, "I wish I could do that too." WhiteDiamonds' drawing was enough to bring me to its source. It was then that I discovered the finest detail of this digital art gallery. It was not a production livestream, or a daily doodle, or another painting that was any grander or more artistically impressive as the last. It was a genuinely appreciative artist whose gracious words were as generous and kind as the visitors who adored her. In December, that I felt that would be worth the possibility of embarassment for the chance to become a member of this hidden group with so much value and potential for the future. This blog has since grown to become something greater than we had ever expected. It's entirely possible that everyone will switch to Tumblr by the time I've caught up (every e-famous person does eventually), but whether I mention it often enough or not, I will always be grateful for your time.

I'm not a member of any other sort of social media. I follow Equestria Daily, but I've never commented on an article before. As a sode note: A few of the comments you get on your deviantART page make me jealous. (I couldn't resist using that image, though it may not be accurate. The most disappointing thing about the last comment is that we all know it will never happen.) Oh, and considering we have a Rarijack shipper in our company, you've got some explaining to do...

I enjoyed your "brief" version of the convention rundown, though I'm a bit scared by what the in-depth one that you lost must have been like. :-)

So far I've only watched the voice-actors panel with Tara cosplaying as Twilight and little Prudence sitting in, and that was fun. I'd like to see the script-reading session I think.

As for those few from my favorites folder, it's no secret that I'm a sucker for a cute Twilight pic (or a cute AJ one for that matter.) And really, I don't have anything against a bit of TwiJack... I've gone over before how close I believe those two are in terms of relying on each other and so on. I don't think it's a coincidence that AJ was the one who consistently approached Twilight throughout the Wedding two-parter, for instance. Ultimately, though, I don't think you really gain anything from making their relationship a romantic one. It's kind of a dull pairing for the average shipping story, as there just isn't much tension there to work from to give it much kick. However, some writers have done some nice work with the pairing by framing their stories about devotion more than passion, and I have a fondness for stories about the two in general. But again, even in those I feel like they would have worked perfectly fine as Friendshipping instead.

But yes, those three are in a row because I came across someone's else's favorites folder that was full of TwiJack, and those few were too adorable for me to resist.

As for comments on my DA page, I'm quite proud of the way I used a White Diamonds comment to get myself a bunch of great Muro drawings from random visitors. I'm also jealous because pretty much all of them draw cuter Muros than I do.

@Favo> birthday 4 days from October 9thWell fancy that, mine's 2 days from the 9th...

@Anon-bonk-I play great at all classes, except maybe the Heavy, Sniper and Demoman :9 But why have Scrolls, Jody and Coconutswallow been enlisted as Sniper, Soldier and Demoman?I haven't really been paying any attention to major conventions since Bronycon Winter in January, which I stayed up ALL NIGHT to watch, only getting up to the Daniel Ingram section before having to leave for Sunday tutor. Not sure if the worst or best 6 hours of livestreaming / sleep deprivation ever. Confound you, time zones, where 1pm PST is equivalent to 3am EST gaaaah. And with daylight savings coming into effect as I type this right now I don't even know what the time is anymore.

@HarwickWell let's see...Found the show because some electronic music artist who happens to be a furry seemed to have got into them. Saw a few gifs, thought they were nice. Told my sister to go watch it first. She got into it, and so did I. Favourite pony started with alternations between Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy before finally settling with the always fabulous Rarity. This was around late July 2011, and having fellow classmates at an all male college suddenly notice my addiction to ponies went interestingly. They've tolerated it since, and I managed to get two others into the show. Meanwhile my shelf is kind of overflowing with pony merch. I'm not so sure.As for the WhiteDiamonds story, I first noticed her works on the Fillydelphia tumblr, but for a while I didn't know she had a blog. When I did, I skulked around a for a little while before actually deciding to converse with our most fabulous hostess back in January. So I've been happily passing by for the past nine months or so, be it on the blog, deviantART or old-fashioned email (arguably not as old-fashioned as them telephones, hint hint Harwick/Prancypants). Her art is a reminder to me that Rarity is always best pony.Active in the community? The most active I'm ever is really drawing ponies as bottles of glue, and occasionally attending local brony meetups in Melbourne. Or making stupid things in Photoshop.

Say, I saw a 3D movie recently... (It was bad, but that made it all the more amusing). And under that pile of glasses somewhere are my real pair.

With you asking, it occurs to me that my "entry" into the show was rather drawn out over a long period of time, but with the fandom it came almost overnight...

I heard about the show in about February of last year from an ex-friend, and she was talking about how McDonalds had new My Little Pony toys and how she wanted the "Rainbow Dash" and "Pinkie Pie" toys. At the time, I was sort of taken aback because I hadn't heard about the MLP franchise in years, and admittedly it was one of those things you sort of had to laugh at. It was one of those subjects that, honestly, most people above the age of seven just made fun of. But my friend told me the show was honestly popular on the Internet, and that lots of people were into it, and while I didn't dismiss this information, I did sort of wave it off as "oh, well, cool o:".

Several months later in the summer, my closer friends online started bringing the subject up in bits and pieces, and soon enough there were enough scattered comments that I thought, maybe I can give this a looksie. It won't hurt to see what all the attention's about. The strongest pull (as well as, bar none, my first exposure, period) was this video, which for anyone who either knows the context of the meme or who knows where my interests lay, should probably understand that this was the best possible way to introduce me to the series. That alone was enough for me to finally take the passing curiosity and pursue it . So I checked my local television stations and eventually settled myself to catching an episode. Cue The Best Night Ever, the first episode I ever saw fully. It introduced me to the main cast, although it painted each of them in a somewhat dismal light (although to Rarity's credit, it was an improvement over her appearance in the Rainboom clip, so much in that I was surprised to learn she was a main character and not simply some borish and egotistical side Pony wearing far too much makeup, as that clip naturally led me to assume). It was still cute and it was still silly, and it was enough for me to want to catch more episodes, so I waited a week and caught another one at the same time as before.

( Oh gosh I made a post too long for the character limit. I'm sorry, Anon, you may have your occupation back at once D: )

So I caught another episode; cue Party of One, which did nothing whatsoever to improve my opinion of Pinkie Pie, however much it did make me laugh. At this point I was getting pretty bad impressions of each of the characters, but I liked the show enough to keep watching it, so a friend and I agreed to watch an episode every few nights for the next couple of months until we cleared the first season. I didn't poke my nose into the fandom in any way whatsoever during that time, and my appreciation for Ponies came simply from watching an episode every now and then. It was a slow growth, but it was the right way to go, I think. After we finished the season, the second one started soon after, and by that point I'd been more willing to peek around at some fan stuff. Not much, but it was happening.

Fast forward all the way to March of this year, and after having had my head more into the fandom, I settled one day to finally read the story I'd heard such good things about, Allegrezza. I sat and I read it all in one sitting, and although I know nowadays that my feelings were more explosive because I'd never read Pony fanfiction before and because I'd never been exposed to much characterization of Vinyl and Octavia, but I basically fell deeply in love with the story and those two characters and wanted nothing more than to express this through art... so in a few short days I'd quickly whipped together a handful of Vinyl and Octavia pixel arts, and people seemed to be drawn to it. This looks good, they said. DJ-Pon3 and Tavi are best Ponies, they said! And I was happy because I'd done something that people liked :C And at that moment in time, I basically decided to let myself be washed away by the fandom, and I was eagerly practicing Pony arts and finding artists I liked to watch. There was no going back after that!

... And well, now we know where I am. I obviously love the series or else I would not be here :P And of course, my opinions of the main characters have been fleshed out properly. Goodness knows I don't view Rarity in the same light I first saw her in, for example. But that's how it happened. And I realize only now that I've gone and made a word wall out of something I expected to be a few short paragraphs. Ahaha... ~

For me I started watching on thursday June 16th 2011, two days before one of my male friends and one of our mutual female friends became a couple, unfortunately I had been in love with him for a few months and hadn't said anything to him because he had just broken off with a very disfunctional girlfriend in january (who at some point had tried stalking him on a videogame server between january and june) and actually didn't see the two of them coming at all. Before then another one of my friends had mentioned the series a few times and I had seen some fan works related to the series and decided that even if it turned out to be overly simple like the third generation that came shortly before it, at this point I was so upset that even if it were, it would at least make me feel a little bit better. After watching a few clips (Fluttershy ones in particular since the pictures I had seen had her with my favourite character in another show) I tried to watch one episode that had been mentioned in comments of one clip (the first two I watched were Best Night Ever & Bridle Gossip, in that order). After a couple of evenings where my friend who introduced me to the series and I talked about Friendship is Magic and the first two series (Oh yes, all of this happened online) some of our other friends ended up watching it as well (including the two that were a couple) and I ended up watching the episodes of the first season over the following several days

There were a few other things that happened apart from that main story, including the girl being a bit short with me after I had entered a photo contest and shown it to everyone (Usually when one of us enters a contest we show it to everyone and we all vote on it, and this picture did surprisingly well considering how little time it had to be voted on compared to the other pictures, it was also the first time I had posted a picture of myself, I admit it took much longer than it probably should have for me to realise that her reaction may have been caused by the photo....), my female friend and I eventually balancing everything out, my eventual realising that his approach to love didn't work with mine (there's nothing inheirently wtong with either, but they wouldn't have clicked in the long term)

And of course that Green Isn't Your Colour made me tear up the first few times that I watched it

First off, many happy (early) Birthday wishes to Favo and zhoomcar and apparently RenaTurnip as well! October seems to be a popular month for birthdays, as my little cousin is having her birthday in the middle of the month as well, and she's the reason I'm into ponies.

I used to watch her regularly while my cousins were at work (working from home allows for such things) and she proudly displayed her pony toys to me way back in 2010, I believe. I recall arguing with her that they looked far more like chihuahuas than ponies at the time, but it was definitely my first exposure to Pinkie Pie. Later, in the summer of 2011 I had a project for which I needed to do some stylized background images, and so I looked up the MLP show on YouTube as I remembered it had a neat style from looking at clips with my cousin. I ended up watching the whole series over the course of a week, and then later started making some artwork for her that I decided to share on EQD.

As for Di, I simply enjoyed her comments and artwork from the Drawfriend over there, and when I found she had a blog going I didn't hesitate to check it out.

In any event, Happy Birthday to the blog and to the October-born fans both!

@zhoomcar Your progression of Best Pony choices reminds me of how much I've enjoyed the sudden bits of Rarity/Pinkie pairings over the show last season, from the balloon chase to the wagon chase. I pretty much feel that every chase scene needs some Rarity/Pinkie now.

And may I say, you have a super-hero quality to your chin when buried under all of those glasses. I don't know if you've decided on a career path, but you should leave that option open.

I have to wonder if McDonalds had way more Pinkie Toys than any other one, because that's all we ever seemed to get when we got a happy meal for my cousin. I like Pinkie well enough, but they could have at least given her multiple Twilights or something so that I could have snagged the extra. Or Cheerilee. Who doesn't like Cheerilee?

I think I started watching from the beginning and saw them pretty much in order... at least through the first half of season 1. By "Winter Wrap-up" I was fully loving Twilight, but it was "Art of the Dress" that sold me on the series as a whole, and convinced me that Rarity was easily the most entertaining pony. I never really had a bad opinion of any of them, but I believe Pinkie was the last member of the mane six to really win me over... I found her mostly there just to appeal to the intended audience before that.

I didn't really start reading any fanfics until around Christmas of last year when I had time off for the holidays and could get cozy with my ipad and read. Now I read such stories all the time, usually late at night when I'm ready to unwind and call it a day. (It's good to be able to read something that only has 3-5 thousand words available, so I don't keep saying "one more chapter" and end up reading all night long.)

Haven't read Allegrezza yet, although I know that's the big one for Octavia/Scratch fans.

It seems very appropriate to have your story about your introduction to the show and fandom include such events in your own friendship and how you overcame them.

I've been reminded of moments of my past from various episodes, but sadly they're never the episodes where everyone beat a mad god or set new flight records or unleashed massive magical powers... so I feel like I could have led a more interesting life to this point.

Heh, I admit that's usually the way I cover a series of events like the ones at the convention. I tend to type out paragraphs of detailed analysis before deleting half of it because it doesn't seem so interesting after the second reading. (Though I will say that the "brief" comment was a reference to that first paragraph, where I glossed over some of the most publicized panels since there really wasn't much to say about them in the end. In the original text, I mentioned things like the "sunshine, sunshine" recital and explained the format of the blind reading in greater detail.) I figure I will someday grow up to utilize my talent of writing bedtime stories. (I think those two panels are the only ones that would interest you, but if you have an interest in following the progress of Fighting Is Magic, it may be worth watching a few seconds of the Mane6 panel to see Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy.)

I see the interaction between Twilight and Applejack as a reflection of the characters' roles in the team. Twilight was designed to be the leader, and Applejack was meant to be dependable and relatively quick on the onset. That is the relationship I think the writers were trying to express when AJ pushed Twilight away from a boulder in "Dragonshy", and when she was the first responder to Twilight's plea in "It's About Time". I agree with you entirely regarding shipping and friendshipping in fanfiction, and I've also thought before that TwiJack is fairly dull for a pairing. (Another note that I forgot to mention earlier; your top ten favorite and least favorite episodes are exactly the same as the ones I would have listed. I can't think of any way I would change them. Well, I guess I would replace "A Friend in Deed" with "Dragon Quest", for "Smile, Smile, Smile"'s sake.) I just wanted to make it clear that Rarijack is the law of the land. You wouldn't want the fashion police to come and beat you with their fabulous batons.

If you wouldn't mind a bit of constructive criticism, I think you tend to strive for realism and detail in your drawings, which hinders your ability to draw cuter muros (or ponies in general). Most pony drawings are very simple, and largely based on circles. Because you are capable of rendering far more complex shapes, your drawings are exceedingly impressive in their technical quality, but they lose much of their similarity to the cartoon source material. Of course, there is nothing necessarily wrong with that and I'm not trying to tell you how you should be drawing ponies (I plan to use your gallery as a reference whenever I choose to try a larger art project), but it may help you to use Muro for casual pony drawing if you treat it as something less serious. That would be the best advice I can give, anyway. In other words, you're too good for Muro. And though WhiteDiamonds may attract more traffic from the artists of the Pony community, at least you have the "How would you like this colt [link]" guy. He makes up for any number of greeting Twilights or reaction Rarities in poorly-written Transformers crossovers and trap questions. (Again, I couldn't resist that.)

It wasn't really my guess at which of us would be best a playing each class so much as a character study (and a joke, best not to forget that part). I don't actually play TF2. CaineSniper was chosen because the Sniper is always in the background. He may be watching at times, but he's not active most of the time. You're most likely to see him when things aren't going well for him. He's also Australian and he wears a hat like Applejack's. JodySoldier was based on the Solider class's roundededness and conventionality. Jody usually comments (he used to comment on nearly every picture in drawfriends), he occasionally participates in the conversation and he's sometimes inactive. He's careful not to go too far in one way or the other, and it's hard to find anything wrong with him. Also, they're probably both the oldest in their respective teams. Demoswallow is a bit more complicated. The Demoman is a tactical class which relies on unpredictability. Both the Demoman and Coconutswallow have their own immediately recognizable and unique styles of speaking that set them apart from the others. In the Demoman's words; "I got a manky eye. I'm a black, Scottish cyclops. They've got more [long censor beep] ...than they've got the likes of me." Coconutswallow is a comedy fanfiction writer, and the Demoman's personality was meant to be made fun of. But it's always with a certain air of respect, because you know that he must be rather intelligent to do what he does.

Having said all of that, judging by your photo, you look like you would make a good Solider too.

As I referenced earlier, my birthday is still a while after that. So far, it seems that I'm the youngest here at the blog, the first to join the fandom and the last to join the blog. I really have no excuse for the last one.

Thank you for the well wishes~ (July seems to be my "every friend has a birthday" month, randomly.) And, well, the strangest part about Allegrezza is, and I mean absolutely no discredit towards it, but I think at the end of the day it's a case of being popular because it's already popular. It's "the" Octavia/Vinyl fic even if it's not the best one or the most enjoyable. It's a great story or else people wouldn't get hooked (and goodness knows how much I was into it), but I find that with every new and other Octavia/Vinyl story I read, I enjoy them all much more than I did that one... they break out from the expected mold, basically, and are each an adventure in their own way. I'm actually really glad that so many writers of that pairing are trying to do their own thing instead of following a blatantly identical path. But here I go now rambling about something I only intended to say a few words on. I guess I basically just don't hold it as the biggest thing ever.

On a separate subject, my friend and I both adore Winter Wrap Up (both the song and the episode, but more the song) so much, and it's definitely part of the contributing cause that's slowly turning me personally into a dedicated Twilight fan... It's a strange thing, but despite the fact that people write her off as a Mary Sue sort of character, at the same time I think that's technically a strength in that she has the potential to be a lot of things... and lately, I've just been so drawn to all forms of cute and adorable antics involving that girl. It pains me to have to confess on this of all blogs that she might one day replace Applejack as my favourite of the main six characters, but that is the truth I'm facing, I think xD Twilight has found her permanent place in my heart.

I have to admit, whenever I hear people suggest that Twilight is a "Mary Sue", I either assume they don't know what the term actually refers to (overly perfect protagonists) or are just resentful that Twilight is the lead character and not the pony of their choice.

After all, most everything I love about Twilight is on display in "Winter Wrap-Up": She's honestly inept at many things and has a variety of flaws and character quirks... plus she plays the role of butt-monkey for the MLP universe more often than not in gags where we laugh at her misfortune. She quite often makes bad decisions, gives bad advice or is just plain wrong (Griffon the Brush Off, Bridle Gossip, Swarm of the Century, Suited for Success, Feeling Pinkie Keen, A Bird in the Hoof, Lesson Zero, Baby Cakes, It's About Time).

It seems mean to begrudge her saving the day in the big episodes in light of all of this, especially since she is pretty much the lead character of the show. Compared to most other lead characters in any kind of adventure show, she's a mess.

Happy two years of pony, everyone! Tonight I should finally have home internet again after more than two weeks, and then I will post all about how I got into the show, and how I found this lovely place. I really enjoyed your posts of the subject.

Scrolls would like me to pass by a greeting to everybody for him :o He's doing fine, but he is a busy bee lately, and I suspect that a lot of us are busy bees again these days. When will we get a break? D:

From what I can tell, most people use the term for meaning "she's too powerful and can do anything she wants because magic, so she's boring" or anything to that effect, and follow up with saying she has no character to her compared to the others... which, of course, is not true at all. I can understand disliking a character for being too capable, I guess, but Twilight decidedly does not lack character, personality, potential for all things fun... and of course, she has plenty of flaws. Some of her most amusing points can be her flaws, even. The show goes to great lengths to express and emphasize these, even. It's practically a defining point if you were to bullet point descriptions for each character.

To be honest, even with what you've said and what I've said, I'm still not sure why she gets such direct dislike on the kind of level she does. I think people just may not understand her as a character in the first place... that's what I think, anyhow. She is pretty powerful and her special talent is sort of a catch-all, but she's pretty inept at... basically everything the other five characters are better at.

All this talk makes me want to do some art of her now, but I still owe Applejack some art too, ehehe...

Happy birthday to me! And two years of the show! Technically, mine's on the 11th, but time zones dictate that it's currently the 11th here, and then 10th over yonder. So I can celebrate two things at once! I don't feel any older, though...

The day was February 13, 2012, a Monday. My dear, amazing, lovely, charming, wonderful friend soon-to-be-but-not-yet friend WhiteDiamonds had just posted her commission for Forderz - a Steampunk Rarity standing in the rain, her fifth posted commission. I happened upon the artwork on Equestria Daily and was immediately captivated by what was, for me at the time, the single greatest piece of pony artwork I'd ever seen (and it's still up there!).

Somehow, I have no idea how, I found my way here, and left an appreciative comment which I expected to be shortly forgotten. Instead, Di wrote a lovely responsive note, which completely charmed me, and I was hooked on her art and personality. As the cherry on top of the icing on top of the cake, I found another of my favorites, Harwick, was a frequent visitor here, and I met Scrolls, Forderz himself, CoconutSwallow, DicePony, Kateasaurus, and so many other fantastic people through this blog. There is more talent and more insightful commentary here (sometimes in one post) than one is likely to find in a week of browsing the ponypages.

As to how I found out about the ponies, it was in August of 2011 (about the same time as Harwick and Di - the government's mind-control ray transmitter must have accidentally tuned in to the Hub then, I suppose), when I was browsing "knowyourmeme" (because I need to stay oh-so-hip) and got sidetracked by images of ponies, and wondered what these weird colorful things might be. I did not even know there was a new television show at this point, and these ponies did not at all resembele the 80's versions of which I was dimly aware. My wife was a fan back then, and still has some of the G1 toys. I didn't make the connection.

Anyway, being an obsessive link-clicker, I clicked and clicked until I found myself on wikipedia, then Equestria Daily, and finally on YouTube, where I watched every episode in a nightlong marathon that highlighted my poor self-control. Soon after, I was writing (bad) fanfiction. By 2012, I was writing "not bad" fanfiction and drawing ridiculous muros, and reveling in the company of talented artists and genuinely wonderful people. By August of 2012, I was receiving a hug from Tabitha St. Germain, and by November of the same year, I am going to be in the ridiculous position of having a hardcover printed novel about a fashionable lady pony averting a global conspiracy while attempting to keep her hair well-coiffed. As they say, "that escalated quickly."

I couldn't be happier about any of it. Even though it has been said so many times, today is a special day, so thanks Lauren Faust, for having a really, really great concept. Also, thank you White Diamonds, for being a really, really great person and a really really great talent! Thanks to all of you, for being part of a really, really great community! Two years of pony in, and I'm hoping the magic lasts quite a while longer yet.

Hello everyone! Obviously, at this point I have been away from the blog for far longer than I ever like to do, and many of you have probably noticed I've also been absent from deviantART and haven't responded to whatever emails might have been sent my way for the past week or two, for which I do apologize. A few of you have contacted me already and I've explained what's been going on, but for everyone else I've basically been working far more than usual over the past two weeks (my manager at the studio was away on vacation and I occupied her place in large part), but I was also out of town myself for a couple days, plus have been pursuing some job leads and finally begun the search for a new place to live! So yes, just very busy... I am sorry if I inadvertently worried anyone though, and also am very sorry I've been away for so long and missed so much around here! As it is I think I shall be a little hard pressed to get back to everyone, or at least as thoroughly as I normally like to do.

Ah, I see... thank you very much for clarifying that about the mirror, and I enjoyed imagining the little bits about the baby ponies very much, so adorable! As for Grace she was indeed a very adorable kitten, with the most beautiful big blue-green eyes (they're pretty much just green now), though she was always scared of absolutely everything and even then didn't love to be cuddled too overly much, ah well! I still pick her up and squeeze her sometimes anyway, even if she doesn't love it very much and always makes the strangest grumbly noises in protest... silly creature.

Since it's been so long at this point since you posted originally, I have to wonder if you managed to try SAI out after all? My own desktop computer that I normally use for my artwork is in the shop once again, as it has been running incredibly slow recently and is in need of more memory, but at this point it's so old that I'm planning on just buying a whole new computer instead of sinking more money into it. In the meantime though, I've been unable to work on any projects of course, but I'm hoping this will be remedied in the very near future.

Oh dearest, there you are! I haven't seen you around here (or on deviantART) in ages, but thank you very much for the nice message and for letting me know about that. I did see that actually, and posted on the thread, but I'll reiterate that it's funny how some of my old, terribly-made pieces managed to be featured in Equestria Daily Drawfriends while my newer, more polished 'Shine Like Rarity' portrait could not even though I submitted it... haha.

First off, darling, as always it's lovely to see you! And secondly I am quite sad, and also somewhat ashamed, that I both missed that milestone and also, I'm sure, wouldn't even have noticed or remembered it had you not said anything to begin with. Thank you very much for the sentiments though, and for so kindly reminding me... it has been one whirlwind year here with all of you for sure! <3

Harwick-darliiiiing~! Long time no talk to, it feels like. ^.^ You and I have discussed that fanfiction at this point of course, among other things, but I'm surprised you haven't seen much of the FlutterPie pairing before (I believe that's what it's called anyway, and if I can remember correctly I think Jody has something of a fondness for it)... I can only imagine you're not very familiar with SpeccySY's fanart then! And would you really consider Rarijack to be a popular pairing? D'aww, I'm touched, though as I think I mentioned once before I certainly wouldn't say it was that before I started drawing it, at least... heheh.

But yes, even though most of you doubtless know it already, as I think I've shared this story before, I was a very big fan of the My Little Pony franchise as a child in the 80s, when the whole thing began, and got back into it late last summer quite by accident. I'd been seeing the characters almost everywhere anytime I went online, which I thought was very strange albeit interesting, so one afternoon when I was working from home and looking for something on TV to accompany me with background noise I happened to stumble on what just happened to be the very first episode. I watched the whole thing, and caught the continuation the next day (The Hub was airing all of the episodes in order), as well as several random episodes over the next few weeks whenever I happened to be free at the same time. I enjoyed the show and thought it was well-done of course, and by the time I caught Suited For Success, as you all know, I was completely sold. I found Equestria Daily one day by accident and started lurking around there in my free time, following the artwork and reading fanfictions when I could (I think my very first one ever was Strange Bedfellows, which intrigued me because I couldn't imagine Rarity and Applejack being paired together in any sort of context... haha~), and over time I caught up with all of the episodes and also began drawing and submitting fanart of my own (and again, so much for that whole initial Rarity/Applejack thing). Jody, Pogosama, and my friend DJB123 all encouraged me to make some sort of place to showcase my fanart, and of course the rest is history!

Also dear, I know it is/was not at all just for my benefit or anything like that, but I really would like to thank you for always making an effort to liven this place up with a new topic of conversation, and for taking it upon yourself to sort of keep things going around here while I've recently been away. I really do appreciate that, and I'm sure everyone else does too... we'd all be lost without you, I think! <3

Like Harwick, I did enjoy reading through your commentary about Canterlot Gardens and all the rest of that, though I'm afraid half of the time I probably had a difficult time following what you were talking about. I'm not very familiar with many of the people you mentioned you see, sans maybe one or two in name (I've heard of MandoPony before as he's frequently mentioned in association with conventions and such, and have heard of Mic)... I suppose I really don't follow brony music or its artists as much as I guess I should. Still though, I did gather that you had a chance to play that fangame you have been very excited about, and that at least is a wonderful thing... I'm so happy you had that opportunity and enjoyed it.

You lost me somewhat again in that discussion of TF2 business, since of course I've never played that game before and know little about it, but that ridiculous picture at least made me laugh out loud, and when I carefully read through your description of each of the team members I think I can see what you're talking about in how the roles suit each of us. You have a very interesting, albeit very amusing sense of humor my dear. And as for your drawings, I actually have to say that I think both of them are very good, and despite your misgivings about the initial attempt! The second is great for the lightness and sense of movement however, and really I am very excited for you to get back into drawing again when you have the opportunity. Thank you for sharing those because I really did enjoy them!

I really must thank you for those beautiful words about my Octavia picture, because so much of what you said about the creative process and how those of us who are artists invest ourselves in our work were quite touching to me, really. I truly appreciate that and am very happy that work brought you here. And even though I have recently began toying with the idea of making a Tumblr account, mostly because DicePony has now gone and done so, I don't know if I actually will make the effort, but certainly if I do I know it won't replace the blog. This place is valuable to me because it allows me to interact with all of you in a more relaxed, casual setting of course, and when it comes to a place where I can simply post my art to get it out there more readily, I already have a deviantART for that!

Oh yes, and on that note regarding Harwick, he and I actually had a very long phone conversation about the subject of shipping/pairings a couple of weeks ago if you can believe it, and as with most everything else pony-related we seem to be in agreeance on pretty much everything. Insofar as various pairings for the Mane Six members at least (with the possible exception of the PinkieDash/RainbowPie shipping, which I'm admittedly fond of in theory and even if I don't actively ship it), though I'm obviously far more invested in my opinions on the subject and he of course doesn't support anything actively. Still we seem to feel virtually the exact same about all the characters and how they interact with each other which does count for something, and regarding those artworks in particular I think he means he would have enjoyed them regardless of which pony was paired with either Applejack or Twilight in any one of them, and completely regardless of associated ship!

Aaaaghhhh, I have missed everyone's birthdays it seems, I feel absolutely awful!! You poor darling, because at least I did manage to wish Rena a Happy Birthday on her deviantART page (albeit belatedly, as I stopped in to tell her I liked her new icon only to see a whole slieu of happy wishes!), but somehow I entirely missed yours, I am so very sorry! I really don't think I can apologize enough for that honestly... I can only hope you had a lovely day though! **infinite crushing digital hugs**

Ugh, I really do feel like an awful person now. But I shall make it up to you somehow, and can say in all truthfulness that I absolutely love that photograph of yours... you are too funny and lovable. Thank you very much for sharing and also for bringing that little bit of special 'zhoomcar flair' to the blog all of the time! It definitely would not be the same place without you. ^_^

Oh yes, and this is just a random aside, but in response to your passing remark Harwick is actually the only person from the fandom I've ever conversed with off of the internet... hopefully this will change someday though once I manage to make it to a convention and meet all kinds of people I've gotten to know! As it is you all might get a chance to hear my voice at least sooner than you might have thought, but nothing is set in stone yet so I'm afraid I can't really promise anything yet!

Let me follow up the birthday wishes from earlier and the blog anniversary celebrations with some major kudos to you for finishing your epic, 227,000 word adventure "Flight of the Alicorn"! It's a massive undertaking, and I have loads of admiration for anyone able to stick through a project of that size and keep such high quality going throughout. Loved it, and highly recommend it to all!

It's always too long since we've last talked, no matter how much real time has passed. I'm pretty sure I sent you a DA note within minutes of the last time I spoke to you on the phone. Honestly, I have to assume at this point that the restraining order from your attorney has gotten lost in the post.

In any event, SpeccySY does indeed seem to present some strong visual (and very pink) arguments for the Pinkie/Shy pairing. Now that I reflect on it, I do recall some kind of Tumblr that centered around those two in a relationship. I never really warmed up to Tumblr though, and I suppose I don't really look for much Fluttershy fiction, so the pairing must keep mostly off my radar. (Not that Fluttershy isn't adorable and lovely and a wonderful character in her own right... I guess I just haven't seen anyone do anything really interesting with a Fluttershy story to make me seek out more.)

You're likely right in regards to those various TwiJack images in my favorites, although I'm a sucker for Twilight so of course removing her from any of the images would perhaps detract from my enjoyment of them a bit. Still, I really just like the (to my eyes completely platonic) image of the two of them walking through the high grass/wheat field. That's just some nice imagery. The "sleeping in the barn" image only makes sense with AJ, of course, and I like that one because I love barn imagery in general... Not with ponies specifically, even... just old, sunlight barn interiors. Plus the way they're sleeping in a pile in the sunlight is such a great pet reference. And as for the most-shippy pic of AJ pounced on a laughing Twi... well, they're just so damn rolly-polly and cute. I'm not made of stone. But yeah, it's not the pairings that appeal to me. (I think the shippiest image I have in that gallery is the one of Twilight aggressively snogging Dash, from "Rainbow Dash Presents"... although I love it specifically for juxtaposing it with the following image where a completely unamused Twilight has just been read that part of the story shipping the two of them. Plus, I just love "Rainbow Dash Presents".

I think I mentioned in that epic shipping discussion that I did find a soft-spot for a few "Twinkie" stories, mostly because of the Pepe-Le-Pew vibe some authors give Pinkie's pursuit of Twilight's affections.

In any event, it's delightful to see you back to posting and to have you as our wonderful and warm hostess again!

Well, as said I at least I managed to wish you a Happy Birthday dear, so that's a relief for me! Though I'm still sorry it was a bit late. But I enjoyed reading your story about your entry into the fandom, and like Harwick I haven't managed to read "Allegrezza" yet though perhaps I will someday. I don't read nearly as much fanfiction now as I did when I first joined the fandom, as of course I have a blog and deviantART account to manage now that eat into that free "pony time" I try and set aside, but I still feel like I ought to get through it simply for the sake that it's a fandom classic at this point. However, your appraisal of it makes me feel better in the instance that I actually never manage this..!

And thank you very much as well for the 'Happy Birthday' wishes for the blog! It's amazing to me that it's all gone by so quickly, and I sincerely hope all of us will be able to mark this milestone again together in another eleven months or so. :)

Haha, that is definitely funny how so many of us seemed to get into the show at the very same time... I'd say it was a happy coincidence but sometimes it seems things go deeper than that. But at any rate yes, it's amazing to me as well how things evolved over the course of the year, as I went from being so confused about many things in this fandom and thinking nobody would ever really bat an eye at my silly hasty fanarts, to apparently becoming somewhat well-known in the community with what I would consider to be minimal effort on my part... it's such a strange thing, though of course I could (and would never want to) complain about any of it. I've really enjoyed having this place to turn to, for a fun conversation or an instant pick-me-up, whenever other aspects of my life might wear me down a little, and of course I very much enjoy the people I've come to meet and gotten to know here and also on deviantART, and I can never say enough how grateful I am to all of you for all of the wonderful support and camaraderie this past year. I'm looking forward to so many more! <3

Oh yes, and as Harwick said congratulations are in order to you on finishing your story of course... that really is an accomplishment to see something like that through to the end! Most impressive.

Yay, hello again dear! **tackle** And oh, you are silly, as you know I greatly enjoy those conversations as well (I do believe, after all, that three times out of four it has been I who was happily still prattling away at the end, while you were getting tired and needing to head off to bed). I always enjoy hearing from you, wherever and however, and on that note I believe I actually do owe you another conversation soon... I think I had brought up the possibility for another this past week that obviously, at this point, fell through (and my sincere apologies for that).

Anyhow yes, I wouldn't say I follow SpeccySY's work actively, but of course I've seen it around over the course of my time in the fandom and I do believe he's as well-known for "his" pairing as I seem to have become for mine at this point. PinkieShy/FlutterPie (and no matter what, you must love that name) is cute, but it's never really grabbed onto my attention for whatever reason, and if I were to seriously sit and analyze it I don't think I'd find it very viable in a believable sense... still though, it doesn't bother me at all and as with the majority of the pairings in the fandom, I am entirely neutral towards it. As I told you though, I do still have something of a soft spot for PinkieDash, even if it's more on a close friendshipping level (and my fandom acquaintance FreezingShock has done an admirable job voicing his support/reasoning for shipping his beloved "OTP" in a massive post he linked me to, and though I blundered the link initially it's here if you're curious), but as I think I said on the phone I have to agree with you about TwiPie/Twinkie. I could never take it seriously in an actual, workable sense, but in the context of a comedy story/artwork it can actually be highly entertaining, and certainly enjoyable.

And whatever may be the case yes, as I said it is entirely lovely to be back, and thank you so much again for the warm sentiments. Here's hoping I'll manage to get all caught up with all of the rest of my messages soon, too!

And okay, so this has nothing to do with anything really but still I'm sharing because it's my blog and this brought me joy, and also it's so cute I can't imagine the rest of you wouldn't enjoy seeing it! Just, agh, ridiculous levels of cuteness... **instant diabetes**

In the interest of spreading good news, I've just started my first (permanent) job today c: It's not anything spectacular, but it's here for keeps, and I have to say upfront that it's causing me to feel a rush of all emotions ranging from excitement to much nervousness. The owners of the store like me a lot, though, so I think everything will be okay as long as I keep positive about it.

This is not to say the slightest bit less of anybody else on this blog, but the more I read from you (I say with a bit of irony, as I'm just settling in to finish Flight of the Alicorn as soon as I finish this post), the more I get the impression that you're a very fun and interesting person :o Forgive me for saying so as directly as I am out in the open, but that's how I feel. This last post of yours has only enforced these feelings :P

I have to admit, I was quite pleasantly surprised when your name popped up in my messages wishing me well. It was a lovely surprise :3 And the fact that you were actually there just to comment on my icon kind of makes me giggle like a schoolkid. As I said on dA, I'm really proud of that icon, so the fact that it caught your eye enough for you to take the time to comment on it makes me happy.

On the subject of Allegrezza, I almost feel like I said too much, to be totally honest. Although I had no reason to assume in either direction, I didn't realize so many people hadn't read it, and I feel like giving my feelings on the story could have been better saved for another time. Still, it was the deciding factor in me becoming so involved with the fandom, so I suppose I don't regret that I included it in my story.

Otherwise, I certainly hope to remain on this blog by its next anniversary, and wish the same for everyone else! It is a lot of fun to be here and everybody is so interesting to talk to and read about. I can only hope that I'm interesting enough to talk to too~

Another year, another Pokemon game to suck out my soul. Having recently picked up Black 2, it's back to becoming the Pokemon Master yet again. And at the most opportune time too (thanks exams). But I'll manage.

@WhiteDiamondsAll is forgiven, not that there was really much that needed forgiving anyway. I understand that you at times lead a busy life, as do I (okay, maybe not as much), but nonetheless your reply managed to light up my day, at 9pm in the evening. Because that's how things work, right? Teehee.

Also, that friendshipping comic. Quite simple in execution, but regardless, all phasers were set to d'awww. Also your use of that gif is excellent, I've been staring at it for what seems like days, whoever made it deserves my brohoof. WHYWHYWHYWHYWHY

Oh, well congratulations to you on your new job then, dear, that's really wonderful news! What sort of work is it if you don't mind my asking? Just out of curiosity.

And oh yes, I really did love that icon... it was (and well, still is of course) very cute and caught my eye right away. I realized I hadn't spoken to you at all in a while either, since I'd been absent from everywhere for so long so I went by just to say hello, and again saw that I had apparently missed your birthday by one day. I'm glad you enjoyed even my brief message though, as small a gesture as I think that was! I'm hoping I might be able to make it up to you as well, sometime.

As for Allegrezza, don't even worry about it... at this point it's probably doubtful that I'll ever get around to reading it if I'm being perfectly honest and realistic, but even if I do I'm sure your sharing your feelings won't impact my own appraisal of the story in any way. A lot of my favorite fanfictions are those that aren't necessarily even written incredibly well, if I like the idea enough, and by contrast there are many long, epical stories that are very well-regarded (and often very well-written, true) that just don't do anything for me, however many times I've tried to get into them in the past. I think for me it all comes down to how the characters are handled that determine whether or not I like a fanfiction; if I find myself unable to agree with how an author interprets them, I'm not going to be interested in the story regardless of anything else I'm sorry to say.

Thank you for saying you forgive me... even if you are mostly joking about the whole thing, I really do appreciate hearing that. Because intentionally forgetting about you is the last thing I would ever want to do of course... you're a sweetheart and I very much value your friendship you know!

And heheheh, I am glad you and Rena at least enjoyed that ridiculously cute pony-comic... simple indeed, but it was just a sweet little moment and I think the artist did a good job with it. I'm glad you like the gif as well, and it certainly did sum up my feelings quite well!

A party sounds nice. As long as there's chocolate cake! I expect a surprise party in my bedroom with lots of chocolate cake by the end of the week, or I will be very disappointed :1

Also, do enjoy Pokémon Black 2! I never got to finish the first one for one reason or another, and despite the fact that I now have enough work to warrant treating myself to such things, I'm going to pass on this wave of versions. Enjoy it in my place, y'hear? :P

My new job is... well, it's the convenience store not far from the house >.> It is not a very striking accomplishment when put like that, but it's a step up that I've been trying to make for too long and I was honestly very surprised when life cut me a break and I got the phone call nearly three months after I'd spoken to the owners. Still, every step forward, however small, is one more step toward a better future, and... and I'm not really trying to be profound but you understand what I'm getting at, I hope xD

As for the other stuff, you have nothing to make up at all, you silly :o And if you felt the need to do such a thing for me, I'd hate to see how much more you'd feel you had to make up to poor, poor zhoomcar (I jest, I jest~). Please don't stress yourself too much over such things!

(I will make a followup post more on the subject of fanfiction in the morning. I'm falling asleep at the keyboard now and prooooobably should have saved this response for later too.)

@WhiteDiamondsNot only are you back, but you're sharing adorable RariJack comics! A very cute, simple little scene there. I've had the urge and the ideas for doing multiple little comics myself from time to time, but it never seems to strike when I'm actually available to work on one. I keep tossing the ideas into the "maybe someday I'll get around to it" pile that is growing exponentially it seems.

It was an interesting case FreezingShock made for PinkieDash there, and I don't rightly disagree with it (although I did note it's almost entirely one-sided, only dealing with Pinkie's obsession with Dash.) Again though, I think it works fine/best as friendship. In fact, when forced to name the "best friend" pairings in the Mane Six I would tend to pair those two up, Rarity and Fluttershy, and finally Twilight and AJ (although obviously there are very significant and important friendships among the others, such as Dash/Fluttershy... so I'm not sure you can truly break them into "best friend" pairings.)

@RenaTurnipPonydora does come across as a sickeningly great guy, doesn't he? What with the silver tongue and thoughtfulness...

As for Octavia and Vinyl, I thought I'd share this video link for those on the blog who do not frequent EQD or didn't check this one out. Give it at least 15 seconds and see if you all don't end up watching it to the end:

http://youtu.be/W7VRIC2TEs8

Much like White Diamonds, I can be won over by a fic that hits a sweet spot even if I recognize that it's not overly well-written. I do love a good adventure story with everyone in-character, and I've found I'm especially a sucker for a character study of some sort, that really finds some underlying truths that pull together various actions or events in which a character was involved.

I'm currently really getting into the Twilight fic "I Forgot I Was There" , which manages to put the characters through a brutal emotional wringer despite the rather benign-seeming premise of a spell resulting in there being two completely equal Twilight Sparkles. At heart, it's a study about what Twilight doesn't like about herself, wrapped up in a (non-romantic) soap opera of regret, projection, overcompensation, misunderstandings and good intentions gone painfully wrong. Amongst all that is some humor, nice characterizations and, as is so often the case, background RariJack.

And when I'm not reading rousing adventures or painfully in-depth character studies, I just like something light and funny. Two short and funny ones: "A Teatime Visit" , featuring Twilight, Rarity and Applejack, and "Shipping Sickness" , which I'm almost ashamed made me laugh as much as it did.

And, of course, if a story can somehow put all of those options together, well then I'm thrilled.

November 10? By then I would have completed 4/5 of my final year exams. Enough reason to kick back a little before my Software Dev exam? Certainly. Although I might be a little worried that ponies, Pokemon and exams might be a dangerous concoction of fail...

In fact, I've been becoming somewhat distant from ponies as of late, for better or worse, and right now I just have some indie rock/pop in my head. It's all very different.

I'm optimistic for the new season, although the Nov. 10th date does suggest to me that they are indeed planning on spreading out the shortened 13 episode season to run as long as the prior 26 episode seasons. By the time season 3 finally premieres, season 2 had already run 5 episodes.

I suspect we're going to be in for some extended breaks between new episodes this season. Hopefully, however, if they're really releasing a new, straight-to-DVD 3-episode long movie then they'll do that during one of those breaks.

As for the content of the season, it definitely looks like some change will be coming, but I think the show is flexible enough to allow it. I'm fine with both slice-of-life and adventure stories, being more concerned with how the characters are portrayed than the situations they find themselves in. My main hope for the season is for more interaction between the Mane Six, as I felt last season had too many episodes focusing on only one or two of them at a time. With only 13 episodes, I'm going to be getting little enough of the cast to begin with. If the CMC get some of those, and some supporting characters get the limelight as well as the Apple Family especially did last season, then I want at least 3 decent roles for Mane Six characters per episode with what's left.

I temper this view with the fact that "Sweet and Elite" was one of my favorites of last season, and 2/3rds of it was entirely Rarity and all-new ponies. So I can love some of those solo-focused episodes. However, episodes like "A Friend In Deed" which was all Pinkie Pie and Cranky just made me miss the rest of the cast, despite the great song.

I have to wonder why CaineScroll wouldn't rather come to the blog to tell us, but in any case, hopefully the coming third season will help to bring everyone together again. The blog was always the most fun when we had a lot of different people contributing their own perspectives.

It's always great to have you back, Diamonds. Especially with the third season around the corner, we should have plenty of new topics to discuss here again soon.

I admit, the reverse is more likely. Digital (that is, visual) art is still quite foreign to me, and in a way, the music community has become my home. My sudden discovery that some of my favorite music producers have livestreams did not help matters. I'm a bit surprised that you've never heard of TheLivingTombstone, as he is the most famous in the fandom, though I am almost impressed that you're somewhat familiar with those two. I was just remarking on the ponies I found in-game that looked similar to various OCs. The only thing I was talking about after that was my experience of playing with a sound synthesizer that Tombstone uses. Sound design isn't easy, but it's easier than drawing.

Legends of Equestria was a novel treat. There was not much to see in the game world, but part of the game's wonder was the opportunity to see the it. I was lucky, too; the servers were only online for about 48 hours. I hope the next time I get to fly through Ponyville, it will be for some purpose apart from admiring the architecture.

I'm glad you liked the picture, though it's somewhat concerning that I'm most similar to the masked pyromaniac. I wish we could have had Kateannouncer in the picture, but we needed someone to take the photograph. I may not have as much free time as I'd like, but I did get to start the lineart for part of the hair. I have drawn two potential styles that I might use. The body is already a mix of Valcron and WhiteDiamonds influence, so the first was based on (Spoilers?) his Rarity, while the second was based on one of yours. After copying them both to the best of my ability, I am left with these two choices. You will have to keep in mind that I haven't used any color to add depth yet, and some of these details may be too dark to be seen anyway. (Either way, the curl looks like a burrito. That part was not intentional.)

Even though I have never written much about your Octavia piece, it likely remains my most favorite of your laudable artworks. "Etude for Cello, Op. 23" holds a greater meaning and emotion that only those who have determinedly invested themselves in their dreams have truely felt. As always, you are far too generous. Another part of the reason why I am so fond of it is because it granted me the unexpected privilege of meeting you; a privilege that has proven immeasurable over the months that I have stayed to chat with you and everyone else about ponies here at this blog. That is a special quality to which no amount of technical intricacies or external charm could nearly compare. It's entirely possible that this blog will be transmitted from the moon to whatever tacky hand-me-down spaceship I'll be driving by the time I've caught up, but until then, I will always be grateful for the many long-winded discussions we have had, and the friendships we have made along the way.

Sadly, I'm not very interesting to talk to about shipping pairs... I can entirely understand the points that you and Harwick have made, and I do agree, though I'm generally indifferent about them. I can't say much about fanfiction either, because I really haven't spent enough time reading stories to have a personal opinion on them. I would be a very boring phone conversationalist.

I was going to comment on the edited drunk fluttershy image, but as I see that it has been dealt with, I will just mention that it scared me and continues to haunt my dreams. It would be fun to watch an interview with you (hopefully by the "Cutie Art Crusaders" at Everfree Radio), though I might just use recorded samples from it to make a WhiteDiamonds "GentleMentleMen". I am not to be trusted.

I considered typing out my thoughts about your recent Halloween-inspired picture (Spoiler: It's amazing, like everything else you draw), but since I would be the only person here to do so, I'll go for a shorter description. Especially when I read that you are familiar with Alex S., I began searching for the perfect reaction image. I'm glad I found it.

Seriously though, I'm sorry for not showing up lately; I don't remember being this busy in my life, ever. I can't even recall the last time I did any pony stuff, or touched my tablet at all for that matter. It's been assignment after assignment after assignment and OH LORD HALP.

I can't really reply to all these comments here, so I'll just pop in and let y'all know that I'm still sane. I guess I do owe you all something though, so here's one of the many in-class exercises I did. Kthxbai~

Mmmmm... burritos. It's good to see you're keeping at the drawing, and I see that you're still very meticulous in your approach to it. Personally, I think either style of mane works, but those sketches really serve to show me just how much of a difference it makes to Rarity's manestyle when you don't include the back. Very Bridgette Nealson with all of her mane shaved off the back of her neck.

Thank you much for the kind words on the Halloween pic. I'm quite sure Fluttershy was talking to you in that pic.

Hello there! I was happy to see you comment on dA (although I have yet to climb my way up the list of comments to reply.) Sorry to hear that school is eating up all of your time. Yes, in the olden days, college was not quite so strenuous on myself at least. Of course, I had no cell phone, and the internet was mostly confined to school libraries and consisted of Usenet and MUDs, so it's entirely possible that there weren't quite as many things vying for my attention and time.

Although I also never got to do a dragon at sunset picture for an assignment either, so you don't have it so hard. Nice!

Loved college though. I'd go back in a heartbeat to earn a bunch of needless degrees should I become independently wealthy.

Unfortunately I still haven't had the chance to download Sai, my computer hasn't been especially co-operative either; I barely managed to finish my entry for a contest due to my computer crashing twice so two of the characters needed to be redrawn (I'm also filing a complaint against one of my teachers, I didn't find out that I had lost an assignment for their class until I went to print it and they did not think that computer problems was a good enough reason to ask for an extra day to rewrite it, it's only worth 5% of my class but this isn't the first time she's done this to somebody)

I knew I'd been having trouble getting back to the blog to comment, but has it really been a month? Yow. I feel like my life's been put on fast-forward or something. And belated happy birthday wishes to Zhoomcar, Favo, and RenaTurnip!

I'm a bit late for this topic, I know, but I too started following the show and the online fandom last summer. It was actually early last summer (I think) that I first saw a few fan drawings of Derpy (some with Dinky) and of Zecora, which piqued my interest in the show, but the first few episodes I saw just didn't grab me. But sometime in mid to late August, I caught "Suited for Success" on the Hub, and that episode didn't just grab me but sucked me in whole. Pretty much from that point on, I have read Equestria Daily, as well as following and commenting on various other pony sites and dA accounts, though my commenting has dropped off sharply this summer for various reasons.

"It's like self-employment, except you're never paid, your work is judged by a moment's glance and your clients send you threatening letters if you don't do it. That is, it's just like self-employment."

You are definitely too young to be so devastatingly and accurately cynical. Where does it come from?

The bald Rarity you shared looks like an excellent start to me; even if it's a straight-on side view, the pose is dynamic enough to keep it from looking stiff. And the TF2 pic is quite amusing, even if I don't know the game well enough to know who's who, though WhiteDiamedic and PrancySpy seem to be fitting choices. (From one of your later comments, the Soldier seems to be a pretty good fit for me, particularly as I don't have much occasion to flaunt my math geekery or love of awful puns on this blog...)

It's exchanges like this that make me realize how little of the fandom I actually know; until now, I had thought that Twilight Sparkle was the only member of the Mane 6 that didn't have a sizable cadre of "haters" (which is probably too strong a term, but it's the best I can come up with right now). Your assessment of the people who label her a "Mary Sue" seems spot-on to me; people who complain that she lacks character (and I suspect they have the same complaint about Applejack) are, I suspect, confusing "character" with "character quirk". Twilight and Applejack lack the strong, easy-to-grasp character quirks of the other main characters (Pinkie Pie's hyperactivity, Fluttershy's timidity, Rarity's flair for dramatics, and Rainbow Dash's impulsiveness and braggadocio), but on the whole their characterizations are as well-rounded and deep as anyone else's on the show, if not more so.

I didn't check out that video when it was posted on EqD, but now that I have watched it I have to thank you for pointing it out. The music was fun, if not exactly pony-oriented, but it was the little animation in the lower-left corner that made the video worthwhile.

It's good to hear (read?) from you again, regardless of how briefly; thanks for sharing that terrific dragon pic! I hope, as busy as it is, that you are at least enjoying school; heaven knows that, like Harwick, if I were independently wealthy I'd love to just go back to college again.

Gah, and I've run out of time again. I'll try to do better at keeping in touch here (and on dA), though at this point I'm still not ready to make any promises along those lines...

Of course, you bringing the video up made me go watch it again. I don't know why I find their little dance so hypnotic.

On the fandom in general, it seems to be large enough now that I'm not longer surprised that I can run across someone who will object to even the most otherwise universally-loved aspects of the property... even poor Twilight herself.

@ Everyone

Once again, for those who don't make it to EQD or other places where the image might have popped up, the HUB has released a new shot from the season premiere that isn't much of a spoiler but plenty Rarity-centric.

There's also the possible synopsis for upcoming new episode #3, which sounds like fin and vaguely related to a subject discussed earlier in this thread.

Software dev, as a subject in the Victorian schooling curriculum, to be honest, is kind of rubbish. Features nowhere near as much programming as anyone would have hoped. At least the theory learnt actually has some use in the wider world, unlike a large majority of the stuff they teach in Math. But tl;dr, it's mostly theory and stuff with Visual Basic.

Meanwhile, just officially graduated from high school, following mass and valedictory dinner. Will miss it. But not for long, as it appears I did the silly thing of misplacing my Nintendo DS (with Pokemon Black 2) in someone else's bag. But since the only people who would have bags in the church would be members of the choir, like me, at least I know where to start. So tomorrow I shall be dropping by school tomorrow to place a notice in the school memo for a lost DS, even though the school just told me to "go away", ha ha. I'm nearly finished the game, dammit!

Nonetheless, school shall be missed. I won't miss the looming exams though.

I'm glad to see you back, at least for the moment. I was considering that you may have distanced yourself from this fandom by now. On that note, I wanted to show this to you when you last commented here, but you might like to hear this. I wish CaineTheDoombringer would make more "silly" songs like that one.

I have not yet gone off to college as you probably know, and I'm not sure if I ever will, depending on the career that I settle on and what my financial situation will be in the next few years, but I'm happy to be nearly there. Your project looks interesting, though I'm not sure I can tell what type of exercise it was. The shore in the background must be a photograph, and I would guess that the dragon is probably computer-generated. Was it an exercise of adding the dragon to the scene? I would have made the dragon image smaller and placed it farther off into the distance, but I don't have much experience with Photoshop at all, so I'm sure you have done a far better job at it than I ever would.

Nothing forces you to pay close attention to the visual design of the characters as well as fanart. I had to learn about the form of a pony when I was making vectors of it, but because Rarity's hair and tail were not part of the model I was making, I haven't needed to observe them so closely until now. I do favor WhiteDiamonds' interpretations of the ponies, so I fully intend to steal them. (I have made an effort to make it look a bit different, anyway. It may fool some viewers.)

Rarity thankfully is bald no longer, however, she is still lacking a tail. This citical oversight will be swiftly eradicated at my next opportunity.

Either way, you can trust that I will manage to make it look like Mexican food. I do follow EQD, and I do look at those spoilers when they are posted, but I'm not sure there is much I can say about them. I was born in the Fall, and I spent the first years of my life living in a place where orange maple leaves would cover every foot of grass and every street and sidewalk. It brings back memories of watching British children's shows (which were more common than American television programs, presumably by the will of the queen) and going on field trips to make applesauce and maple syrup...

Ah, I envy your town. Today, I live among wild herons and senior citizens (also wild) in the barren flatlands, taking photographs of clouds in the hopes that I might reunite with civilization someday. Thank you for the pictures. In the proper setting, Autumn is truly a season to behold.

Jody J. Jonah Jameson, hello again. I hope you do find more time to drop by, because we do enjoy hearing from you. (Have you seen the muro drawing that WhiteDiamonds left at your dA page?)

I'm not sure how seriously you meant the comment about cynicism, but in my experience, it's actually most common in people of my general age. (I recall that it was a main characteristic of the "emo" culture that was popular in the 2000s.) That remark was made in humor of course, and as for where it may have come from, I suppose I am influenced by a couple of comedians. I don't generally follow any of them, but the first that comes to mind (that would be appropriate to mention here) is the popular YouTube filmmaker "Ashens", a 35-year-old British man who reviews cheap electronic handheld games and bizarre products that he found at Poundland (a British dollar store). This is perfect for me, because I like British accents almost as much as I enjoy making fun of things that are of low quality. (I'm the harshest critic of my drawings, for example.) He is often sarcastic, and he has developed numerous catchphrases and running gags over the years.

Also, since we're on the subject and I've just remembered it, there is a great French Canadian show and YouTube channel called "JustForLaughsTV" featuring mostly silent public practical jokes. Unlike most American prank shows that focus on being disgusting or "extreme", JFL is lighthearted and harmless. I just thought that would be worth mentioning while it is in mind.

Their avatars' expressions were the same as the Medic and Spy's in the original, no less. (Even mine was a perfect fit.) The Solider might just be quirky enough for you; in the "Meet the Team" series, he speaks with a drill sargeant's voice, he wears a helmet that most often covers his eyes, and he seems to insert Sun Tzu in his own personal rendition of Noah's Ark.

Oh no, Visual BASIC? Excuse my opinions on this... Just about every programmer I have ever met agrees that Visual BASIC is probably the grossest, least intuitive and least useful language we have ever seen...it's a shame that they teach it in school. What you should be learning depends on what sort of programming you plan to do, but it's generally accepted that C++ is a good place to start. I don't think you need to be a programmer to see the difference between this and this. All you really need are the proper resources and the drive to be teach yourself what you need to learn. Programming is like art in that way. It doesn't take years of textbooks and practice. It takes a minute or two of observation with a good example and a vision.

...But they're different in every other way, so don't get any ideas. Hmph.

I'd be worried about making Rarity's hair look like a burrito if it didn't already have that appearance anyway. It helps in the show that burritos are rarely indigo in color, but otherwise I'm pretty sure that was the look she was going for to begin with. Spicy and exotic.

I always thought that Di was far more show-accurate in giving Rarity a tight front curl to her mane, whereas I tend to let that thing grow to ridiculous sizes. I have noticed recently, however, that in some few shots it really does get quite large, so perhaps I wasn't as wildly off the mark when I first started drawing her that way than I thought.

I suppose I had best enjoy the colors of fall while I can before "Frankenstorm Sandy" strips all of the trees next week.

@Everyone

Every now and then some infighting or other aspect of fandom gets me a little down. As such, I wanted to share these two, fairly old pony videos. They're both very simple with no effects or lip-sincing, just cheerful scenes from the show with good matching music. I find a fair amount of cheer in them:

Well... this is my first major breather since Idon'tevenknowwhen. My life just prior: this.

I would say things should be far lighter from here on out but I've told myself that before and look where that's gotten me. No more jinxing I say! Blah blah blah no one wants to hear me complain about my uninteresting life.

I'll say, as far as interesting and relaxing things go, this blog has it in spades. Few forums of discussion has ever compelled me to read everything I've missed, but this one is an exception. Too many interesting people with interesting things to say. Once I got to this blog, having saved it for last after catching up with other websites around the 'net, I got myself a drink, propped my feet up on my foot rest, and read through all these posts. Relaxing.

Coming in this "late" so to speak, I honestly have no idea what I'm going to put in this post.

You wouldn't happen to be in the business for superbly late commentary on your art would you? Because, oh my, do I have a surplus.

I'm very much loving the Applejacket. It fits (oh, look at that pun, isn't it cute) AJ perfectly. She looks quite taken with it as well, what with that satisfied expression and all. Excellent color choice for the jacket if I might say so, it goes with AJ's orange very well. A zipper? Hooves? Hmm. (How do they work?) Anyway, one of the best of the Applejack compilation it was featured in.

And look, it's followed by a trend! I love Rarity's pose. It's exactly the pose I'd expect her to assume were someone to ask her if they could take a picture of her in her new jacket. Hers would be a fur one wouldn't it? Of course!

It's Twilight! It's been awhile since she's been featured in your drawings. Yet another fine choice of outerwear for her, it makes her look even more studious than normal. The book was a nice addition in that regard. She looks far more confused as to why she's being drawn than the others. Mayhaps to her a new jacket is not anything special.

If you do ever draw the others, then count me eager. This is already a fine series that can only get better.

Yet another long-time-no-see pony: Irritated Rainbow Dash! The more I stare at her expression the wider my smile gets. Please don't ever stop being the expression master that you are. I like the way you colored her mane and tail. It has a nice blended look. What has her bothered? Perhaps she doesn't like the idea of putting on a jacket and standing on two legs. Maybe she saw the next picture and was embarrassed with all that "mushy romance." We may never know!

Speaking of which, hello Rarijack. Fancy seeing that on this blog. Strange. Still, such an amusing picture for how small of scope it is. Conveying what it needs to with a minimum of space. Such a classic little romantic encounter. Or perhaps not. I don't want to jump to conclusions. Maybe upon close inspection, Rarity and AJ realized they had gone to far in their makeup party when it came to the blush. Sounds completely plausible.

While I'm at it, have a thoroughly late congrats on the birthday of the blog!

The wonderful thing about me not having the time to catch up with the latest pony conventions is that I know that in all likelihood you'll be able to inform me on the most interesting aspects in a very nicely put together recap. How about that blind reading? One word: brilliant.

I see the results of your drawing labor are coming along nicely. Excellent beginning if you ask me. I certainly know my attempts to make something of that sort would result in something vile enough to be condemned by law.

Demoman, eh? That is oddly fitting. I approve. Though now I feel compelled to have a much more explosive personality. Over all, that picture was highly amusing. (And Anon-Pyro... oh you).

Even more late reply, now in the form of how I got introduced to the fandom.

My introduction was relatively quick and simple. It was around May (how Ponydora knew his exact date I will never know) of last year that I was browsing YouTube and came across an odd link in the Related Videos bar entitled "Pinkie Pie's No Fear Song." This didn't strike me as odd until I noticed that the views were in the hundreds of thousands. Very curious, I clicked the link and was greeted by a hyperactive pony jumping around telling characters that I didn't know from John Doe not to be afraid of these trees (which didn't look remotely scary at all).

With a raised brow, I glanced at the comments and was surprised to see a fair amount of devoted fervor to the video and a comment section devoid of ridicule and, in fact, filled with a fair amount of wit. Tracing these equestrians to their source I discovered the song belonged to MLP:FIM. I browsed a few other clips of the show that had very high view counts and continued to notice staunch fans with comments such as "I can't believe how much I'm in love with this show." My curiosity only grew, so I started watching the first season on YouTube.

The show didn't instantly grab me, I must say, but it didn't irritate me, which was a surprising feat for a modern children's cartoon. So I kept watching and soon found myself sucked in about mid-way to the point that I started eagerly devouring the rest of the season. Right before the last few episodes, I started diving deeper into the fanbase and happened upon EqD and from there I was fully engrossed into the fandom. That site showed me just how amazing the fans of the show were and how I really wanted to be a part of it all.

I think I've mentioned how I cam across WD's blog before so here's the abbreviated version: loved her drawings in the drawfriends, occurred to me I ought to just seek out the source of these wonderful fanarts, found blog, died of glee.

We'll have to see how the fall colors withstood the damp remnants of Hurricane Sandy. We just got rain and some wind, but nothing too serious here. It's been miserable and I've been busy with deadlines, so I've barely looked out a window for the last few days. It may be that the trees are all bare by now, but even so it was at least a really pretty fall while it lasted.

I love excited Rarity... Honestly, I love all of the excited ponies, especially when they do the nervous dancing hooves thing. But Rarity having a fangirl meltdown while everyone else looks on seems like it'll be a highlight of the season premiere already. Just over a week!

Glad you liked the videos, by the way. Also, the story of your entry into fandom is very familiar... curiosity about what the appeal of these candy colored horses actually was certainly played a role in my own decision to actually play the episodes instead of just grabbing some screenshots for references.

And I really do love the Drawfriend for bringing so many artists and other fans to my attention.

Well it's now been two weeks since I posted here last, it seems... that really is terrible. Of course, as a couple of you know from a few brief conversation when I managed to log onto deviantART, I was sick again all last week, and am technically still recovering (I think you must have jinxed me Anon-dear, because ever since you remarked that I got sick all the time and I disagreed, it seems that really has been the case). Aside from that I've just been working a great deal, and in this instance a lot of sewing/costume work because I've actually managed to pick up some Halloween-related projects recently, so that's a nice thing.

Anyhow though, I am sorry for not being very active around here over the past month or two, or in the fandom at all really since obviously, I haven't managed to get any new artwork made in quite some time. I hope this will change soon but in the meantime at least, I hope to have something fun to post about later this week or next. And no matter what, I hope life has been treating all of you well in the meantime!

Oh, I wouldn't say that at all... any job is an accomplishment really, or certainly better than none, and as you said is just one step forward which is always a positive thing. My first job wasn't particularly glamorous I don't think; I believe I mentioned it once upon a time, long ago in an Equestria Daily post, and I have to wonder now if Harwick remembers it because I know he and I were discussing it at the time. Probably not, but perhaps that's for the best after all. ^_^;

But anyhow! At this point, of course, you've now been working there for a couple of weeks and so I can only hope you've gotten settled and that things are going well. And as for making your birthday up to you (and zhoomcar), I still fully intend to do that you know... once I promise something like this I think I have always gotten it done, though I'll admit it could take some considerable time. Eventually though, I shall get it done!

Background Rarijack is always a welcome bonus =) (and I realize I should probably feel bad posting that, but it still makes me laugh even now and I have you to thank for originally bringing it to my attention all those months back anyway =p). Thank you very much for sharing those story recommendations! I'm afraid I can't even begin to guess when I might have a chance to read any of them, but nevertheless I will try to keep them in mind for when I am less busy.

I know what you mean about also wishing to still try my hand at pony-comics "someday", and as for the 'best friend' pairings I think you were right when you stated that it probably is impossible to break them up as such after all (and you and I have already discussed the matter of course, but I'll restate that I don't necessarily agree with all of FreezingShock's points either, but thought they were some interesting ruminations and certainly worth sharing). Oh yes, and I did watch that little dancing Vinyl/Octavia video to the very end, of course. And hooray for my classic cliche 'tripping and/or falling on the other person' blushy-moment at the end! ^_~

Ahh, so that's why you're not around here as much as you used to be! Because you've been busy hanging around on various Livestreams by the sounds of things. Well, it's good that you've been enjoying yourself (I can only presume), and I have actually heard of TheLivingTombstone before... he and I have briefly corresponded on deviantART in fact, and he seems to be a very nice guy. I can't say I'm especially familiar with his music though, most unfortunately!

Ah yes, Rarity's hair... many artists seemingly have difficulty with it going by what I've read, but I myself have never had a problem drawing it. Honestly, those two different sketches both (which are very nice by the way) could have been drawn by me in regards to the hair I believe, just depending on the angle and whether or not I was trying to convey any motion (imagining how her would bounce and such). And I guess he makes her curl slightly larger, but still they're not too dissimilar.

Well, Harwick and I discuss much more beyond just pony-ships, or even just ponies in general, but as I said having similar interests and opinions on so many things does help of course. I think he and I seem to agree on most everything the majority of the time, even though some things are of greater interest to me and others to him, which is only natural. But still, when it comes to opinions on things and certainly in regards to the show and characters, I think we're almost always on the same page.

Oh dear Goddess that Applejack plushie is adorable... thank you so much for sharing all of those with me! All are lovely. And well, if I ever have considered doing a recorded interview, I'll be perfectly honest when I say then you have very nearly just talked me out of it, singlehandedly, with that "disclaimer"/warning of yours... you wouldn't really ever do such a thing to me, would you?

Ah, so there you are! I too have been wondering about how life has been treating you recently, and it's nice to hear that it seems to be "good" even if you do consider yourself overwhelmed with schoolwork. I realize that can be difficult, since I've been there myself of course (and not that long ago!), but nevertheless as Harwick and Jody said I really must agree that I'd also enjoy taking some classes again I think, if only I could manage it. Perhaps someday!

But whatever the case may be, thank you for stopping by to say hello, briefly or not! As well as for sharing that project of yours... looking good dear!

Ah, well I am sorry to hear about your computer troubles... of course, as I was just going through such a thing myself I know how incredibly bothersome that can be. But certainly, I hope you have a chance to try it soon, and also that everything will (or has since) worked out with that assignment of yours as that really does sound quite unfair.

And regarding that first generation pony comic, that really is rather... sad, isn't it? ^_^; It amazes me sometimes how dark so many things were in cartoons and such that I can sometimes remember from my childhood. It's interesting that you've started collecting some of the older toys too... just thinking about it sort of makes me miss my own, as well.

Yay, Jody-darling! It's always a such a delight to hear from you, whenever and however it might be. And in this instance of course, I can sadly relate very well with the lack of commenting recently...

I remember reading you say once before that "Suited For Success" was also your favorite episode and/or the one that really made you a fan of the show, and of course I find it lovely that we have that in common! I have to wonder if it wasn't the very same airing of the episode that we both caught as well, since the timing sounds like it would have been about right. =) Such a small world, it's always a wonder.

Ahaha, I still adore that gleeful giddy Rarity... so adorable. I only briefly commented on that EqD thread, and have since spoken with you about the upcoming season of course, but suffice to say that I at least am excited about what's to come and am not at all bothered by any of the Twilight-centric rumors which apparently have some fans in a tizzy... I won't say anything further here though in case some people prefer to keep the discussion spoiler-free. But yes, just a little over a week now, hooray!

Lastly, regarding those photos you took on your blog; mercy but you do live in an absolutely breathtaking area! I am utterly envious, and in awe of the fact that you on a daily basis, in waking life get to see the type of things I myself can only appreciate in calenders and the like... lucky you. <3 Thank you very much for sharing those with all of us, as I sincerely did enjoy looking at all of those (and even if your blog still won't allow me to comment so I can say so there... pish).

Oh, congratulations on graduating, my dearest! That is certainly a huge milestone in your life. It is sort of a bittersweet feeling, or at least was for me in a way, but now you have your entire life ahead of you, and it's very exciting. =) Hugs and kudos to you! <3

Well hello darling, and welcome back! I always do notice your absence from here you know. =) I know what you mean about the discussions in this place being very "comfortable" and entertaining to browse through, and now that I think of it perhaps that's why I've been under so much stress recently; because I've been absent so much! You all are lovely though and I really do enjoy everyone's company very much... it's always a pleasure to be back here.

And anyhow, your very kind words about the artworks! Thank you so very much, for always (and as most everyone here is) being far too kind to me. None of these are particularly impressive really, or at least when compared to many of my works, but I was happy with all of the expressions at least and considering how important this is to me, I would consider them a success enough. 'Applejacket' in particular I find satisfying in this regard, because I think for me personally her satisfied expression is what makes the entire picture, and of course with the Rarijack doodle I managed to accomplish exactly what I set out to do with the reactions/expressions and tone (even if it is in a very rough state) so I was happy about that. I'm very glad that so many people seem to like the jacket-ponies idea, and even though I haven't managed to work on any artwork since sharing the small Rarity progress-shot, I hope to get back to doing so soon!

Thank you again, as always for the kind feedback, and again it's lovely to see you back here. And thank you as well for the happy anniversary wishes for the blog! <3

Yeah! Break that one hundred comment barrier! I've missed your presence, Di, hope you get better 3: (for the record, I've hardly been on deviantART either, just been skulking this here blog until someone else said something.)

Graduation has come and gone, but there still remains a few things left to take care of. One end-of-year exam has been completed (English), and it feels particularly strange that I won't have to be writing analytical essays on such a frequent basis anymore. But I want the rest to just be over already, receive my ATAR and be on my way.

But before that, school choir still requires my attendance for a performance in December. So not exactly time to hang up my uniform just yet. (Shut up and get back to studying, says me.)

I do like to plug artists and writers, and the works they create. I figure it's the least I can do in return for the enjoyment I get from their free works. I do realize that stories aren't as easy to check out casually as artwork though, so while I toss out recommendations from time to time I don't necessarily expect people to find the time to read all of them. Still, it never hurts to mention them.

I just saw a the beginnings of a cute story idea over on FimFiction about friendshipping between Opal and Winona as they're forced to spend time together due to their owners doing so. I can't tell yet whether it's background RariJack in that one, or just regular friendship going on quite yet though.

I did think of your picture above when that Octavia/Scratch video ended with the trip and blush... and then I realized that the appeal of those two was based in much the same vibe as RariJack anyway, just with completely made-up personalities.

As for those Twilight rumors, it occurs to me that perhaps the most likely place for them to come true would be the strongly rumored direct-to-video, 3-episode-long "movie" being created for a likely Easter-ish release. If that rumor crosses with the rumored return of Discord, then really anything could happen quite easily in that one without really throwing the show itself out of whack with major changes. Discord is certainly handy that way. (I could also see those backgrounds of Sweet Apple Acres and the Boutique being from some major Discord story.) Sure, that's so many levels of speculation as to be ridiculous, but I need something to occupy me while I draw my little buildings.

As for the area in which I live, the surrounding environment is really quite lovely. Unfortunately, the towns and such are mostly old, crumbling leftovers from the steel boom. There's a certain picturesque nature to them too, but most are not what one would tend to call beautiful in and of themselves.

Oh, haha, I did break the hundred-comment barrier didn't I? I hadn't even noticed at the time! And thank you very much dear, I have missed all of you as well! **digital hugs** I am feeling better now at last, finally, or at least insofar as the most recent cold/bout of sickness goes... the heart issues are another matter but at least I seem to have them under control.

Anyway though, congratulations on finishing one of your exams at least (with flying colors I imagine) and I wish you the best of luck with whatever else you still need to do. Including your December performance in choir, how exciting is that!

An Opal and Winona friendshipping fanfiction?? Pfft, how incredibly cute and adorable is that! I love it already, so any potential Rarijack content as well is just the icing on the cake. If you manage to keep up with it, please do let me know if it's something I must read eventually!

Regarding Twilight, that does indeed make a great deal of sense, and though I had heard rumors at an earlier point about a potential direct-to-video episode/movie I don't think quite so much information had been released at the time (insofar as a potential date and so on, I mean). That's very exciting, and though it's all speculation of course I don't doubt that you are indeed pretty near to the mark with your guesses.

Well, whatever the case may be the pictures are certainly gorgeous to my eyes, and though I do love the area in which I live I do think it would be nice to have a change of scenery on occasion, and to experience actual seasons as I believe I've mentioned before. Thank you again for sharing, and as for that dancing Vinyl/Octavia video, I recently stumbled across something that is both relevant and (in my entirely biased opinion) even more adorable. Hopefully you all might enjoy that as much as I did. ^_~

I'll definitely keep an eye on the Winona/Opal story and let you know. The only other story I've read that really focused on the pets was one where Fluttershy was turned into a bunny and could only speak to other animals, and she got to see the kind of community the non-ponies had set up. Of course, all of the major pet characters played large roles in that one, with Angel Bunny being a kind of crimelord of the animal kingdom trying hard to keep Fluttershy from finding out. It had a lot of amusing touches.

I haven't really heard anything about that possible video since someone first posted the schedule of the animation production house which showed them booked from summer to Dec. working on a 66m MLP video. I just figured that was cutting it too close for a Christmas release, and as I understand it the Easter season is the next big video release window, so it just seemed likely for the Spring. If it even exists at all.

A lot of people assumed the leaked artwork of Trixie and those backgrounds were from regular season 3 stuff, which they very well could be what with the Episode 5 summary that EQD put up yesterday, but it seems we tend to get such leaks from what they are currently working on at the time and so the rumored video/movie would line up with those, I would think.

As for your (not at all biased) video pick, Rarity looks extra adorable to be sure! Of course, I kind of heard Fluttershy in the back of my mind saying "I mean, no offense, but your rhythm is a teeny-tiny bit off." Plus, I have no idea what that thing was that flew through the frame... Still, I think you need to find a gif of Rarity dancing for your webcam image on DA, without a doubt.

"Crime lord" Angel-bunny? Oh mercy, what will people ever come up with next!

Ah, I see about the potential video matter... well that's a shame in a way that it's still decidedly in rumor territory, but hopefully your guesses aren't too far off the mark, or in any case that it is indeed a very real thing we will all be able to look forward to. And as for dancing Rarity, don't blame her for her lack of rhythym, blame whoever made that video or set it to music for selecting something that wasn't timed properly! And even if I have to agree with you about whatever-the-heck that thing was that flew by. While I'm not sure I myself am capable of creating a gif out of a video (I've never tried before, and am not sure I possess the proper tools), such a thing would be wonderful, and I would absolutely plaster that all over the front on my deviantART gallery.

Okay, so "in the morning" turned into "when I get home from work tonight"... which then turned into "I'm tired" and then subsequently "something very bad happened the next day". Then nobody ever heard from me again. I'm afraid I'm just going to forego trying to respond to the rest of this post after having missed all the lovely chatter, just simply to tail end it with an explanation as to why nobody really hears much from me lately. I've posted a little bit about it on my journal on deviantART, but anyone who hasn't kept tabs on that won't know, of course.

@jodyjm13 @WhiteDiamondsSupport very much appreciated, as well as any I may have overlooked from anyone else... but...

Well, I pretty much lost the job and my best friend in the same day. In that order, I may add, as well as for completely separate reasons. On the job front, the two owners of the store (who if I haven't mentioned before, are a South Korean couple) basically told me that I wasn't happy with my job and that I was too good for it... or something that essentially made no sense. I was going to tell everybody a story about how interesting and difficult work at a simple corner store can be, but that story sort of got overridden by this one instead. And to that I will say, it is honestly a lot of work. A lot more than you'd assume without knowing what goes on behind the scenes... if anyone's interested in this, I'd still be happy to explain for the sake of a good story, but yeah. On Monday of that week I'd finished talking to my boss about the upcoming months. She told me that I was to meet one of my coworkers on Thursday, and that I needed to learn all the procedures for every Saturday because Saturdays are special, and that I was getting one day off the following week... we basically spent a long time that night talking about it all, and I was very prepared for the rest of the season... soooo getting a phone call the following afternoon telling me what I've stated above (which I still don't understand) was a real downer, but more than that it was just downright confusing. I don't know why I was prepped for another entire month of work and schedules only to be unexpected snipped out like that... but ehh, I guess that's how it goes. I really had all my hopes riding on that job basically carrying me through the next year or two of my future, so now I'm back to just being stuck at home again :C

As for the part about my best friend... to keep this exceedingly brief and because I don't want you all to feel down about it, the short version is that I lost my best friend to his own selfishness, and it's pretty much made life hard for me. I don't mean anything grim or dark by that, but it's one of those things where we just couldn't stay as friends because of the way he acts... so couple that with losing the job I've been trying so long to get, just a few hours earlier, and you have a Rena who does not say much on the Internet anymore and doesn't quite know what to do with herself. It's hard for me to work myself to keeping up with my friends, like all of you... but I was really happy when I had a chance to come out of my cave and watch the Cutie Art Crusaders interview and come chat again. I shall try my best to stay chatty, even if it comes only in short spurts. I miss you guys :<

You may now return to your regularly scheduled exciting, fun and positive Ravishing Diamonds blog! *burrows back into the turnip hole*